Atomic Robo and the Shrine Maiden of Paradise
by Chokoryuukishi
Summary: In this Freaky-Friday crossover, Atomic Robo and Hakurei Reimu switch bodies due to a mysterious transmigration spell discovered by Kirisame Marisa. The first annual Tesladyne exhibition draws near, and the two must find the culprit and undo the spell.
1. PROLOGUE

Atomic Robo and the Shrine Maiden of Paradise

* * *

Author's Note/Disclaimer:

The usual quotes mean that characters are speaking either English or Romaji. Double brackets are translated from Japanese.

Many thanks to The Fan of Many Things for beta reading my pieces. I'm sure he will be beta reading most of my pieces in the future.

Atomic Robo is copyrighted by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, and Red 5 Comics.

Touhou Project is copyrighted by ZUN and Shanghai Alice.

I own no intellectual property in writing this fanfic.

* * *

PROLOGUE: In Which Parallel Mundane Lives are Intertwined

"Mmm-hmm..." Robo said as he held a receiver onto his audio receptor. "Ok, I'll get back to you on that." he dropped the receiver on the top of the phone's notch, taking a deep sigh. He had just been speaking with a research affiliate based in Oxford, England regarding some recent findings in Astrophysics that Tesladyne had conducted. Such a process takes a great deal of communication, and it was getting in the way of paperwork. Speaking of paperwork, the last few days at Tesladyne had been nothing but paperwork for Atomic Robo. There had been a lack of scientific weirdness lately, and since Robo had spent the last few weeks of his time out doing "fieldwork" around the clock, the paperwork required for him to personally deal with piled up quickly in his office. With the mess on his table, he had no choice but to take care of it all. As bored as he was, so were the Action Scientists. They sat around the cafeteria for most of the day, chatting and playing board games. It got boring quickly however, and most of them resorted to helping out with research projects around the building. Project heads banged their fists on Robo's door, pleading that they stop with their meddling or they'll burn the entire island to the ground. The rest of them gave up trying and went off to their dorms to sleep.

"Robo?"

The voice suddenly piercing the dull silence startled the atomic-powered robot. On the sofa in the far corner of his office sat Jenkins, his face covered by the newspaper he's holding. His legs, clad in sand-coloured cargo pants, sat in a cross-legged position and his feet, covered in black military boots, stood limp and docile. Come to think of it, Robo never noticed the Action Scientist enter during his time inside. In fact, Robo locked the door before he even got started on his work.

"Jenkins?" Robo said. "How did you-? Nevermind..."

Robo disregarded the thought and resumed signing and writing. The office fell silent once again. The only sounds came from the whirring of the wood-lacquered ceiling fan and the scribbling of Robo's pen.

"Nice fan." Jenkins remarked curtly, flipping a page in his newspaper.

"Yeah, yeah..." Robo replied absentmindedly. "I had that since the 80's. It's a rare model that I custom-built a lightbulb in the center..." his voice trailed off. "What are you still doing here?" Robo looked up.

"Heh...what can I say?" Jenkins said, refusing to put down his paper. "I'm bored, just like everyone else."

"Find something else to do then. Have you fixed the broken aircraft?"

"Done."

"That quick? Hmm...what about our land vehicles?"

"Fixed and oil-changed."

"Weapon supplies?"

"Cleaned barrels, oiled, and reloaded."

"What about international inquiries?"

"Processed through. They should come to you anytime now."

"Golly. More work for me?" Robo said sarcastically. "As if I didn't have enough paperwork to sign-"

The conversation was interrupted by a large rumbling explosion nearby. It shook the office, causing books from the bookshelf next to the sofa to fall, portraits on the walls to shake out of proportion, and piles of paper on Robo's table to fly off, making a large mess on the floor. Robo mustered as much willpower as possible to contain his steadily boiling frustration. The sudden disturbance caused Jenkins to finally put down his paper, revealing a middle-aged man with mild silver streaks in his hair. A mildly annoyed look was painted on his stubbled, chiselled face. A tight gray t-shirt barely hid his medium-sized muscular figure and well-maintained six-pack.

"Will this day get any better?" Robo said, his palm on his face. "C'mon..."

* * *

『Hmm-hmm-hmmm...』 Reimu hummed about a gentle melody as she swept the stone steps with her cornhusk broom. In the midst of spring, the cherry blossoms had bloomed with a vivid and explosive display of colour. Keeping her shrine clean was a chore with all the blooming petals falling among the branches. Straightening herself, the shrine maiden wiped off the sweat from her brow with her white, furisode-covered arm, her smooth armpit exposed.

『Oi!』 a voice hollered from a distance above. A girl with vibrant blonde hair, clad in frilly, dark Victorian-esque clothes and a puffy witch's hat soared by with her oaken broom.

『Marisa.』 Reimu said. 『You've come to watch the cherry blossoms at this time of year? It's kind of early.』

『Oh,』 Marisa grinned. 『I've come here for something more than that, ze. Check this out!』 she took out a medium-sized book from her dress pocket. The hardcover contained no title, but was merely a dull display of maroon. Reimu recognized it quickly.

『Isn't that from Patchouli's library?』 Reimu said, starting to chide the witch. 『I swear, if she catches you one day stealing her books, she will-』

『Quit being such a stick-in-the-mud, ze.』 Marisa cut her off. 『Besides, I'm only gonna borrow them for a while.』

『So you say...』

『Anyway, no one else reads her books, so I wanna be the first one to see if I can use her magics.』 Marisa smiled. 『I want you to help me out with this book.』

『Fine.』 Reimu sighed. 『I'll go make tea.』

A few minutes later, Reimu strolled into the living room of the shrine, carrying a hot kettle of green tea and a pair of polished wooden teacups. Marisa helped herself on seaweed crackers on a platter on the small table and is busy reading, flipping thorough the pages as she bit into the green square of her cracker. Reimu sat beside her and poured the hot tea into both cups, putting one cup next to Marisa. She took a sip and looked into the pages. They were written in beautiful kanji, the strokes well thought out and done with excellent penmanship. However, most of these neatly written characters were ancient to the point of unreadability.

『It's so hard to read this...』 Marisa said, giving up.

『I could try it, but it's gonna take a while.』 Reimu said.

『You're a lifesaver!』 Marisa hugged Reimu, almost spilling her tea.

『Careful now!』 Reimu put away her cup and focused on reading the characters, sounding out each one akin to a toddler reading a picture book. As she flipped each page, Marisa twiddled her thumbs impatiently, but noticed that her friend grew noticeably quieter and began to read silently. Finally, she closed the book before reaching the end.

『Well?』 Marisa inquired.

『Most of it was unreadable, but it had something to do with switching bodies with another person. A process called...ermm...Transmi-something...』

『Transmigration!』 Marisa snatched the book from her and flipped through the pages once more. 『Patchy was blathering to herself about this a while ago, ze. It was kinda creepy.』

『Well, it sounds reasonable of her.』 Reimu said. 『Switching bodies with another person is quite a dangerous process. It's not some fancy parlor trick anyone could do.』

『Not fancy, huh?』 Marisa made a small grin. It was the kind of grin that she often made when plotting something.

『I saw that!』 Reimu raised her voice. 『What are you planning to do with that book?』

『Oh, nothing. Just a bit of this and that, ze...』

『Like hell you will! Give it to me, and I'll assure you no harm will be done.』

『Gotta catch me first!』 Marisa took off, sticking her eye and tongue out at her.

『Hey!』

Reimu chases after the stubborn witch and her book throughout the shrine. Taking the lead, Marisa bolts out of the entryway and into the stone pathway. As she nears her parked broom, her foot suddenly got caught by an uneven rock.

『Eeyaaah!』 Marisa trips over and hits the ground, the book slipping from her grip. It lands facedown, the pages sprawled on the sandy stone. Reimu walked past the unconscious witch, kneeling to claim it, but in a split second, a small creature swoops past and retrieves the book.

『Hee-hee...』 it giggled, its wings flapping away from the immediate vicinity. It was a mischevious fairy.

『Stop right there!』 the shrine maiden immediately soared in the air in pursuit of the creature, leaving the knocked-out Marisa to recover on the ground.

* * *

"Ben..." Robo began with another exasperated sigh. "Benjamin West, please don't make me do this."

"But it was an accident, Robo!" the Action Scientist explained in a panicked voice. "All they had me do was fire an experimental weapon." the damage from the blast apparently came from a research facility in the Physics department. Benjamin came to help out regarding a prototype weapon making use of converged solar rays into a weapon stronger than three Lightning Guns. Robo at this point was interrogating him on the matter.

"Blindfolded? Spun around three times?" Robo exaggerated as he closed in on Ben's face, unnerving the Action Scientist. "Are you sure you didn't stumble into a party or something? 'Cause believe me, I know parties when I see one."

"Ulp..." Benjamin gulped nervously and moved away, further intimidated by the robot's stare.

"Y'know what?" Robo turned his back. "Get outta my office."

"B-but Robo, I-"

"Get out, or I'll throw you out."

"Are you giving me the boot?"

Robo paused a moment. "Did I say I was gonna fire you?"

"You sounded like it..."

"Well I'm not in a good mood today." Robo turned to face Benjamin again. "Just have a day off or something. You guys are bored, right. Just don't forget to tell the others."

"And Jenkins?"

"You know him. He stays."

Benjamin gave out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Err...yeah. Sorry about the mess." he said. Robo gave him a dismissive wave.

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry." Robo said. "I have all day to do it anyway."

"Thanks. I'll go start packing up now." delighted, the Action Scientist proceeded for the door, but turned to face Robo once again. "Umm...are you sure you'll be alright without us around? 'Cause stuff are bound to happen and we're not gonna be around to take care of it."

"It shouldn't be too big a problem if it's me and Jenkins taking care of it." Robo said, his hands on his waist. "You shouldn't really worry about that."

"Ok, then..." with that said, the concerned Action Scientist left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Well, that's that." Robo murmured to himself, gazing at the fan on the ceiling. "Guess it's time to deal with repairs."

* * *

『I'll take that.』 a hand appeared out of thin air, grabbing the book out of the tiny creature's hands.

『Waaah!』 the creature lost balance midair and fell into some bushes. Reimu stopped to notice its wings. They were an icy blue.

『What would that stupid fairy want with a book?』 Reimu inquired herself, as she levitated midair.

『Good question...』 a voice answered. The voice came in a form of a mouth-shaped portal with ribbons adorned at the ends. Inside was an expanse of gaping eyes. Out came a young woman in a ridiculously large, white frilled dress coupled with a similarly decorated parasol. Over her dress was a purple, qipao-like garment decorated with trigrams and a yin-yang symbol. A fiery pattern blazed at the bottom of it. On her free hand was the book that the fairy had stolen.

『If you may,』 Reimu said, stretching her hand out. 『I would like that book back please, Yukari.』

『Well dear me...』 Yukari replied melodramatically. 『That sure is quite an odd way to start a conversation on a mid-spring day.』 putting an index finger on her tongue, she began to flip through the pages, subtly blushing as she skimmed through the text. It looked as if she was reading some sort of corny novella.

『...Are you done?』 the shrine maiden asked impatiently.

『This is quite an interesting book you've got here. Where on Gensokyo would you have procured such a thing?』 Yukari replied with an odd-toned query.

『It's not mine. It's Marisa's. You know where she gets these kinds of books...If you would kindly return it to me, I can return it to its proper authorized owner.』

『Meaning you?』 Yukari's sunny desposition momentarily became dark as her smiling face turned into a murderous glare, which reverted instantly. 『Ahahahahahah! You think your silly little paper charms can seal this book away from anybody? I think you're sorely mistaken.』

Reimu clenched her fists, thoroughly annoyed by Yukari's behaviour. The youkai's laugh pierced into the heavens.

『You're not very right in the head today, aren't you?』

『That Patchouli woke me up in the middle of one of my siestas.』 Yukari said, her mood unchanging this time. 『Of course I'm not right in the head today.』

『I see.』

『In case you haven't noticed already, I wrote this book.』 Yukari gave a smug smile. 『It carries some of the most...violent magics in all of Gensokyo. I told that girl to put it away somewhere else, but...it appears that little kleptomaniac friend of yours found it.』

『Oh really? I never saw you as the type to write books. That's Patchouli's job.』

『Ouch. That really hurt my feelings, you know.』 Yukari holds out the book. 『You want this book?』 without warning, she threw it. 『Go and get it!』 the book soard over Reimu.

『What the-! Hey!』 Reimu attempted to catch it, but it went by too quickly. Before she knew it, the book entered the mysterious portal, appearing from nowhere.

* * *

Meanwhile, Robo remained in his executive chair as he wrote reports of past field work, his mind droning on and on the words that he wrote. He'd recently examined the damage the accident had caused a few hours ago and requested a repair team to come and fix it up immediately. Luckily the cost isn't much, and Tesladyne may be likely to stay in the budget this time when it comes to damages in the building. Suddenly, a book fell out of the bookshelf nearby, suddenly snapping his concentration in two like a twig.

"Huh?" annoyed, he got up. Stretching his arms from the lack of active movement (which was unnecessary for a robot like him), he approached the book and picked it up. The cover was nondescript, with a dull, dark red colour. There was no title inscribed on it, and the book itself looked almost ancient.

"_Where the heck did I get this again?_" the robot scratched his head confusingly and returned to his table, dropping the book beside his paperwork and resuming his task.

* * *

『Oh dear...』 Yukari dug her hand in another portal that appeared within arm's reach. 『How very impulsive and clumsy of me...』

『You did that on purpose!』 Reimu said, crossing her arms.

『Oh, and what could this be?』 out of the portal was the same nondescript book that she threw a second ago.

『You almost gave me a heart attack.』 Reimu flew over and grabbed the book from Yukari's hands.

『Feisty, aren't you?』 Yukari said, smirking as Reimu turned her back and flew away. 『Let's have some fun now, shall we?』 giggling to herself, she vanished.

The day went by quickly, and before anyone in Gensokyo knew it, the sun had begun to set. Marisa was delighted the book had been returned, but Reimu insisted on keeping it. Empty-handed, the witch fumed slightly as she rode off on her broom with an evident little bruise on her forehead, with Reimu waving goodbye to her eccentric friend. Returning to her shrine, she immediately locked the gate, and prayed to the shrine's deity, burning new incense sticks as the ones she put out that morning had burnt out. Stripping off her clothes, she trotted off to the hot spring at the back of the shrine, carrying a towel. Feeling the temperature of the water with her feet, she slowly entered the bubbling, steam-filled water and placed a small wet cloth over her forehead.

『Rough day, isn't it, m'lady?』

『Waaah!』 startled, the shrine maiden went to fetch a dry towel when an old, shriveled face with a beard surfaced along the water. She recognized it quickly.

『I'm so sorry to startle you, m'lady.』 the face said, its shell and flippers appearing along the water.

『Genjii...』 Reimu said, sighing in relief. 『You silly old pervert.』

『I did not see a thing, m'lady.』 the turtle said innocently. 『The waters are murky.』

『Right.』 Reimu began removing her hair ornaments. 『Marisa's been stealing books again.』

『What a very dangerous habit.』 Genjii went on his abdomen and leisurely did a backstroke. 『That girl should contain herself.』

『Well, she can't help it.』 Reimu started washing her hair. 『Patchouli never lended those books to anybody anyway. They're a property of the Scarlets.』

『So many books, and yet there are very few tenants in that mansion.』 Genjii added.

『How greedy, don't you think?』 Reimu said, sighing as she stared upwards into the darkening sky. Silence ensued for a few minutes as she continued to bathe. Genjii swam with a breaststroke towards Reimu.

『Is something wrong, m'lady?』 Genjii inquired his mistress with concern.

『Oh nothing...』 Reimu said softly. 『Everyday always seems like this, when there's not an incident afoot.』 she scrubbed her arms in a casual manner. 『Frankly, I'm tired of it.』

『I understand your plight, m'lady. Even though you mean to solve incidents for your own personal gain.』

『Yeah, that's totally understanding of you to say.』 she replied sarcastically as she got off the spring, feeling a bit more revitalized. Putting her nightclothes on, she prepares her futon as the crickets liven up the night with harmonious chirping. She blows the candles out around the shrine, taking the book with her into her bedroom.

『You gave me a lot of trouble today, stupid book.』 she complained to the hardcover piece as if it was a person. She flipped it open, only to see nothing but lines and numbers of mathematical equations. It looked like something Marisa or Alice would do, but the scrawlings of English words on each page said otherwise. Many parts were crossed out with pencil, and each number, sign, and letter was drawn rather thickly to a point that the etchings can be seen in the next few pages. The entire contents of the book looked very foreign to Reimu as her look of curiosity became one of displeasure.

『Yukari! That two-timing old hag!』 she threw the book across the room in a huff. 『If there's one thing I want right now, it's to just have some peace and quiet!』 she dropped to her futon and hastily put the covers over herself, fretting and fuming to herself all the while.

Outside, Genjii clung over the water's edge, hearing Reimu's short rant. He hmmed in genuine concern for his mistress.

* * *

Robo left his office, carrying the dark red book with him. The very halls of Tesladyne seemed dead at three in the morning, even with all the lights on. The view outside was pitch black, save for the sound of waves splashing across the shores of the island and the outline of rocky edifice covering some of the buildings. For the most part, a majority of the scientists had retreated to their beds, and the Action Scientists had left the island to return to civilization for a couple of days. Regardless of the view of almost pastoral-like perfection, Robo was as bored as ever, and longed to be out to do field work once more. Robo opened the book in a rather uninterested manner, skimming the pages. It looked really old, as the thin, almost fragile paper seemed discoloured by centuries of moisture. Chinese characters were scrawled vertically in a grandiose manner, and the book seemed to turn in an odd way when the pages were flipped left to right. Some of these pages had thin inscriptions of circles, filled with stars, moons, and suns.

"_How did I get ahold of this?_" Robo thought suspiciously. "_I never buy, let alone borrow junk like this. Then again, this book looks exactly like that one where I wrote equations based on some hyperspacetime theories I devised..._" he continued to flip the pages until one particular sheet stuck out. It was a simple diagram of two people, and an arrow pointed at each in a circular fashion. On the arrow-tails were circular shapes. He continued to flip until his boredom took the better of him and flung the book behind him across the hall, muttering to himself annoyingly. He clenched his fists.

"I'm getting sick of this peace and quiet." Robo muttered, frustrated with his predicament. "If there's one thing I want right now, it's to be able to just punch something right now!" he sighed embarrassingly at his sudden outburst and went to retrieve the book. As he bent over to reach for it, the book flashed with a blinding, white light. Momentarily, Robo's optics became whitewashed and he stumbled backward trying to shield his eyes for a split second. When his vision returned, albeit by small increments, he was staring at the ceiling. The fluorescent light directly above him flickered slightly. He struggled to move his arms and legs, but found he couldn't budge an inch.

"Augh!" Robo cried out. "I-I can't move! Dammit!" the lights flickered more frequently, and the halls remained silent even though Robo's loud voice briefly pierced the silence. The book swung open, flipping to a blank page in another bright flash, blinding Robo with showers of white light. It increased in frequency to a point that Robo couldn't feel his own body anymore, but instead felt like he was floating weightlessly in midair.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I...?" Robo eyes dimmed as he felt weak and lethargic, stifling a yawn. Everything went into static, then pitch black...

* * *

Endnotes:

Chapters will be posted on a somewhat day-to-day basis, so check back periodically for new chapters.

Comments and criticism is very much obliged.


	2. Marisa

CHAPTER 1: Marisa

"Nnh...what the hell...?" Robo twitched his eyes open slowly as his blurry vision caught sight of a wooden ceiling, supported by a number of beams. His eyes focused more slightly as he blinked, and he felt something soft and warm hugging his body. He turned his head, feeling a pillow beside him.

"_What am I doing here...?_" he thought half-consciously, rising from the pillow, only to see himself covered with a blanket. The entire room looked Japanese; tatami mats covered the floor and most of the walls were covered with rice paper windows and sliding doors. The futon Robo is sitting on seems to be near the centre of the room closer to the sliding door on the right. Light seems to be peering through the lighter parts of the paper. Next to him was a small drawer with a number of small things such as dolls, writing utensils, and what looked like a number of red, frilly hair ornaments. On the far left wall seems to be another sliding door, but it seemed a bit darker. Blood started to rush into his brain at this point, making him slightly dizzy. Robo clutched at his head until the disorienting pain went away. In the process, he felt strands of hair attached to his scalp. He looked at his hands and saw a soft, pink, fleshy exterior with small markings and lines for fingerprints. On these hands were single brown locks of the hair on his head. He started to feel unnerved by this, feeling something wet and mushy beating fast inside him. The thought of it made him sick, causing the object within to beat all the more frequently. Before he realized it, he took the blanket off of him, revealing a smooth, petite set of feet of the same complexion, complete with five toes on each foot. He looked to be wearing a shimmering, rosy silk nightdress. The sight of it all horrified him.

"This...this can't be happening." the former robot said to himself, trembling. "No!" he shook his head in denial. "This is a dream. Yes, I'm probably in some weird nightmare where I turned into a girl and I get chased down a hall by some monster. I gotta. Wake. Up!" as he punctuated those words, he began to deliver hard slaps to his face. After a couple of hits to the cheek, he couldn't take anymore of the pain and instead ended up clutching both sides of his face with his hands, groaning from the numb, lingering sensation that followed. He quickly got up and ran from the room, bumping into the sliding rice paper door.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he cried, his forehead throbbing. He slid the door open with both hands as if wrenching open a locked metal door, scrambling through the hall of the strange, Japanese house that he seemed to be in. He turned left into the hall and ended up in a large room. A large shrine was situated in the north end of the room, further emphasized by two sturdy wooden columns on both ends of the shiny pedestal, adorned by white folded paper streamers suspended on a large rope hanging on the ceiling. There was a faint, spicy aroma wafting into his nose, making him all the more nauseous. He strided to the back of the room, leading to what he saw was the first glimpse of sky in this unfamiliar environment. He saw a large pool ahead, covered with steam. His instincts quickly took the better of his judgement, and he ran straight for the pool. His attempt at ending the nightmare was in vain however, as he tripped and fell facefirst from the raised floor of the building into the cold, hard stone of the ground. He keeled over in the sudden trauma, clutching his forehead ever harder.

"Auugh...!" he groaned ever louder, trying not to scream. He laid on the ground for a good two minutes when something hot splashed into his clothes. Before he knew it, the burning sensation of hot spring water coursed into every vein of his body.

"YEEOWW! HOT, HOT, HOT!" he leapt instinctively, doing a crazy dance, fanning the heat from his body. The temperature of the water on his skin soon came to pass though, and he hunched over, hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"I thought I had a higher pain threshold than this!" he muttered amidst pants. "Then again, I've turned into a human girl. So the near-invincibility part goes straight out the window..."

"Goshujin-sama..." inquired a voice within the steam of the hot spring. "Daijobu desu ka?"

"Huh?" Robo stood paralyzed for a moment. A sudden unwanted chill went down his spine and he quickly stood upright. The true meaning of fear never felt greater for Robo as he slowly turned his head, wide-eyed at the small shape before him. It appeared from the mist: a large turtle with a long Chinese-style beard, flippers, and an aged shell marred with a sickly-looking mix of green and brown. Robo's heart felt like it was going to rip out of his chest.

『Is something wrong, m'lady?』 the turtle asked politely. Robo fell backwards, holding the scream dying to burst out from his throat at this unexpected turn of events.

"A...a talking turtle?" Robo stammered, sweating from the heat and trembling. "A-and it speaks Japanese!"

『What's that? I can't seem to understand you.』 the turtle replied. 『And your accent...it sounds really odd. Did you hit your head again?』

『Err...』 Robo attempted to recall what knowledge he had left of the Japanese language. 『I'm fine, I'm fine!』 he tried to say, forcing a big smile on his face.

『Well, I hope you are. Even if your accent is odd today.』 the turtle nodded. 『It's a bit late. You should open up the shrine now.』

『Shrine?』

『Hello? Is m'lady even listening?』 the turtle exhaled from a deep breath, causing his long facial hair to flutter. 『The Hakurei shrine needs to be opened if m'lady is to get any donations today.』

『I-I see...』 Robo scratched his cheek in confusion. The strange talking turtle put an emphasis on the word "donation".

『You look like a mess. M'lady needs to change before she even opens the shrine.』

『Err, yeah! How stupid of me.』 he covered up his nervousness with a fake laugh, climbing up the stairs to the shrine. As he retreated back to the bedroom, he slumped back into the futon, already exhausted. Not only did Robo feel rather awkward at this strange turn of events, but he still hadn't awoken from the strange dream. He slapped himself, bumped into things, and got splashed with hot water. That was more than enough to wake someone up in the middle of a nightmare.

"_Maybe...I really did turn into a girl..._" he thought defeatedly, but he shook his head just as quickly, denying everything he just saw. "_But wait! There's no such thing as a talking old turtle now, is there? I must be in that deep a sleep right now. I'd hate to think what Jenkins and the others are doing with my body right about now..._" he shuddered the thought and decided to live in the moment. Taking a breath, he stood up, the soaking wet dress pressed into his skin uncomfortably. In the far corner of the room away from the door, he opened the sliding door, revealing a wardrobe of sorts. It appears the girl whose body he inhabited had no sense of variety, for every outfit he saw was merely a red and white outfit with a short yellow frilled neckerchief hung with a coathanger, and a pair of separate white pieces of cloth with large red threads weaved at the ends, folded neatly on a shelf at the bottom. Multiple pairs of black shoes were situated on the floor. They looked like the shoes a schoolgirl would wear.

"Well, here goes..." he began to strip his clothes...

A few minutes later, loud banging sounds were heard from the main hall of the shrine.

『Reimu! Open up!』 the voice was feminine with a touch of a fiery tomboy spirit, as denoted by her shouting. Whoever it was, she seemed pretty angry. Robo had just finished tying the neckerchief on, but did it in a manner as if he was putting on a business tie. It came out very badly as he'd rarely put on anything else for neckwear besides solid or snazzy ties. The pairs of white cloth, which were actually detached sleeves, were done very unevenly as he applied them on his shoulders. He had no idea how to tighten them, causing them to sag. He took them off and left the outfit as is, coupled with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath the red two-piece dress. The long-sleeved shirt felt coarse on his skin. The shirt was probably supposed to be for winter wear, Robo thought. The entire process of putting on a girl's clothes had been uncomfortably and embarrassingly foreign to Robo. He'd been "male" all his life, and it's a torture to any male to have to be put through this kind of situation, Robo thought aside... Actually, scratch that, some males actually like doing this, and they're not right in the head. At the moment, he had difficulty fixing his long hair to put on the red hair ornaments by the small drawer. He dropped them, leaving his hair long and straightened, to see what was going on.

『You bastard! Why isn't the shrine open yet?』 the girl said as she saw Robo appear in the main hall. Robo had difficulty unlatching the wooden gate, and the girl noticed that he had difficulty using his fingers to get it open.

『Boy, you drunk a lot of sake last night! Your hands are shaking like hell, ze.』 the girl said with a grin. 『And you're little armpits aren't exposed. Isn't it the wrong season to be wearing something like that?』Robo made no comment as he finally was able to turn the latch, and he slid open the gates as the visitor entered the shrine. It seemed like she was completely familiar with the interior.

"_This girl seems to know me._" Robo thought. "_She's a weird one too..._"

『Well? Where is it?』 the girl asked in a rather demanding tone. She wore a strange set of clothes. A dark, wide-brimmed hat, and a black two-piece dress with a white undershirt and long skirt with white frills. Her vivid blond hair swayed about, but what caught Robo's attention was the single braid tied with a white ribbon to her left.

『Where's what?』 Robo said, slightly confused. The girl seemed to have taken his query rather offensively, scowling.

『Don't play dumb with me, ze!』 she said, sticking a finger at Robo's chest. 『You had that book last night and now I wanna see it!』

『I'll...go look for it then.』 Robo strode off, a panicked feeling invading him. It's been a while since he inhabited the girl's body, but Robo started to notice the lack of his usual quirky, uninterested, yet confident demeanor that he had as a robot. Instead he adopted one of an emotional wreck that jumps at the slightest sound. It disturbed him, and he couldn't shake the feeling off.

『You better, or I'm gonna come and kick your ass, ze!』 the girl screamed. Robo hastily went back into the bedroom. Taking a careful look, there was a lone hardcover book sprawled at a far corner opposite to the side where the wardrobe was at. Why he didn't notice it the first time was beyond him. The book was maroon in colour and the pages looked somewhat new, if mere decades would be considered new. There was no title, but at first glance of the page, he quickly recognized it.

"_Wait a second...these are my notes!_" Robo thought. "_But how did it get here? And that book I had before I passed out. Did that come from here?_"

『Chop chop!』 the girl said loudly from the distance.

『It's only been thirty seconds!』 Robo retorted. He was already getting frustrated with the girl and wanted to punch her in the face. This newfound personality of his had limits. Quickly, he left the room.

『It's about time. Gimme that!』 the girl ungratefully snatched the book from Robo and began to skim the pages. Her look of anticipation upon seeing the book suddenly became one of disappointment and confusion as she closed the book.

『You said you wanted this book. There you go.』 Robo said, his Japanese beginning to stumble a bit.

『But...but...』 the girl sounded like she was blubbering. 『This isn't the book I saw yesterday! Why is this one covered in mathematical calculations? And even then the equations look really easy to solve!』

『Wha-?』 Robo was hit with a wave of astonishment after he heard that. "_What kinda person is this girl?_" he thought. It took him about two years to devise the hyper-spacetime thories he'd made, and even then, he crossed out many equations because he couldn't define certain values, which in turn disproved some points of his theory. The fact that this girl claimed that these equations were "really easy" was just sheer idiocy. He turned to look at the girl, whose mood changed in a split second and was now staring directly at him with suspicious eyes. She squinted and looked beneath the eyes of the supposed girl in red-white before her. Robo was unnerved by the girl's gaze.

『W-what are you?』 Robo asked, his voice beginning to shake.

『I'm asking you the same thing, ze.』 the girl replied with an accusing tone. 『You know, the real Reimu always wakes up early to open up the shrine. Whenever I drop by, she's always drinking tea in the living room. There's also something off about your face today. And your clothes...』

『I-maybe I just overslept today, that's all!』 Robo laughed it off. 『Everyone oversleeps once in a while, right? And you were banging on the shrine gate, so I wasn't able to fix my clothes and hair in time.』

『I see...』 the girl started rubbing her chin, as if she was sleuthing. 『You may have a point, but there's something wrong about your voice as though...for one thing, you talk like a guy. Your voice seems deeper, and your accent...』

"Crap! She saw through." trembling, Robo began to take a few slow steps backward, but the strange girl pounced on him. Before he knew it, he was on the ground. The girl's scary face was merely inches from his.

『Aha, stupid youkai!』 she cried. 『You think I was dumb enough to fall under your little ruse? Where's the real Reimu?』

『I don't know...who you're...talking...about...ghkk...』 Robo had difficulty breathing with this girl's weight crushing his chest. The girl gasped.

『You just admitted it now, ze! Tell me now, or be obliterated by my Mini-Hakkero!』 the girl proceeded to clutch at his neck with both hands, shaking him violently. Robo flailed his limbs about, struggling and gasping for air.

"_Don't you think that if you obliterated this body, your friend wouldn't be happy about it once she tries to come back?_" Robo thought hard, hoping the crazy girl would actually hear it. Of course, it wasn't gonna happen, as her exploding temper seemed insatiable.

『You asked for it!』 she took out a white, octagonal shape with one hand, the other still strangling Robo. Lines adorned the sides, and a small spherical gemstone was fixed in the middle of its yin-yang surface. The object was aimed directly at his face.

"_And I thought this was all a dream..._" Robo thought. "_Wait a second...this IS a dream dammit!_" with what breath he had left, he spat at the girl's face.

『Augh!』 she fell back as saliva splashed directly on her face. Robo kicked her off with both feet while he got up on his hands and knees, struggling to catch his breath.

『You'll pay for that!』 she wiped the spit from her face with her free arm. Robo ran into the shrine's hallway, with the girl hot in pursuit. She began to fire shots from her Mini-Hakkero. Bolts of white light grazed past Robo. They were hot to the touch, as he could feel the warmth of the shots as they passed by in a continuous stream. Abruptly, the hall came to an end, and Robo turned around to see the crazed girl running at him in full speed, showing no signs of stopping.

『I got you now!』 she cried ecstatically, seemingly hell-bent on destroying him.

"_Yaaaaaaahh!_" pent-up frustration, coupled with adrenaline, surged through Robo's body. In a desperate attempt, he ran back towards the girl, picking up speed, his right hand curled into a fist. Before she knew it, Robo sent an earth-shattering punch to the girl's jaw, sending her flying across the hall and into the floor at a far distance, her hat falling softly where the punch connected. Lingering in that position for a while, the adrenaline wore off quickly and Robo fell to the ground once more, catching his breath.

"Geez..." he said to himself. "Should I have gone easy on her? She's not moving..."

『Damn! That was one hell of a punch!』 the girl complained, quickly recovering from her fall, sitting up. The punch left seemed to have erased her bloodlust, but left her miraculously unscathed, besides the evident bruise on her left jaw, which she held with one hand. It seemed that the punch wasn't an earth-shattering punch after all, but the force of it was strong enough to floor her. Robo was flabbergasted.

"Guh..." he stammered in fear. "B-but, but..." he pointed a shaking finger at her. His senses reached beyond their limit, and he fainted.


	3. Jenkins

CHAPTER 2: Jenkins

『Mmm...』 Reimu groggily opened her eyes, revealing a blurry vision of white. As they focused, the first thing she saw was a spinning wooden propeller attached to a smooth, white ceiling. An orb in the middle of the propeller produced bright white light around the room. She felt uneasy, unfamiliar of her surroundings. She slowly rose to a sitting position, half-awake, and looked around. To her left is a dark, mahogany bookshelf with large books neatly sorted within. Right next to it is a brown leather sofa, big enough to sit three people. In front of her is a large table of the same colour, with strange, unknown kick-knacks set neatly on its surface. To her right, a strange plant with long leaves and an irregularly-bent bark stood in its pot. The walls had small portraits hanging in an orderly fashion. She squinted, and saw a large, heavyset man made entirely of shiny steel, posing with other men in strange, yet proper clothes. Judging from their positions, they looked like they had really important positions. It could have been the clothes, though, she thought. Slowly, she gazed at her feet, and saw that she was wearing rather unfamiliar clothes: A pair of somewhat baggy trousers in a light, sandy colour, and thick brown boots that look like something Marisa or maybe Alice wears on a daily basis. Covering her chest snugly was a white, collared shirt, with the collar stuck out from a light blue vest made of wool.

『Wh-where am I?』 she said to herself. She attempted to scratch the back of her head, but felt nothing. She heard metal grating against metal, and stopped immediately. Slowly, she brought her arms to her front. They were bulky and metallic, with hinges and joints exposed. She dropped them, utteing a cry of panic.

『A mirror...where's the mirror?』 Reimu asked, her voice shaking. She moved on all-fours, looking at the table, then the shelf. On the top shelf was a shard of glass large enough to see her face.

『A dream...maybe this is all a dream!』 she thought. 『If I looked at this mirror, maybe I'll see my face and wake up from this horrible nightmare!』 She gazed at the shard, seeing a short, featureless metal face without a mouth. Two large, glowing cyan-coloured circles stared right back at her. A pair of edged lines made its way symmetrically, forming an upside-down L from the chin then shooting straight up to the forehead, culminating in small fins at the top. She blinked, and the circles had shutters that closed and opened in half a second. Her fear began to rise from her nonexistent stomach to her invisible throat. She felt like she was going to choke in this nightmare.

『N-no...wait a minute. I'm...I'm the man in the portrait? No...no, no, no!』

Reimu dropped the glass shard, screaming in horror.

* * *

"...and you said you heard a scream coming from Robo's office?" Jenkins asked, clarifying what a nearby scientist had told him. He stood at the door to Robo's office, which was locked shut. Some of the Tesladyne staff huddled around the office door as they tried to figure out what the commotion was about.

"Err, yeah." answered back the scientist. "Can't really tell if it was Robo. It sounded like a girl, but with the electronic fuzz that came with Robo's usual voice."

"I see..." Jenkins began to take out a pair of lockpicks from his cargo pants pocket. He stuck the two objects in the door's keyhole, making a quick sound of a key inserting a lock.

Inside the office, Reimu stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her waist and her head looking down in deep thought. Yesterday she was the Hakurei shrine maiden, and now she's a big man made of steel. She didn't need to smell, breathe, or open her mouth to speak, but for some reason she felt disoriented moving around, as if her new metal skin was a five-hundred pound piece of armor, and she was sealed within. Her arms were another thing too, as the individual joints that were exposed only moved one way. She had difficulty twisting and moving her arms to the way she wanted. It felt like she was moving a marionette, except it was about five foot tall and weighed about half a ton. She vaguely remembered the events yesterday: she was sweeping the shrine steps, then Marisa came in. She showed her a mysterious book of magics, and one of them was about the transmigration of souls. Reimu then forced the witch to give it back to her, then she chased her out of the shrine for it, then Cirno went and snatched the book, and then Yukari retrieved it. When Reimu asked for the book, Yukari threw it into a portal and then-

『That's it!』 Reimu realized, then started to shake his head, sighing. 『Looks like she did it again. That old hag. I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind when I-』

Reimu suddenly heard a clicking sound. She turned to find that the doorknob was wiggling slightly. She began to panic.

『Oh no,』 Reimu gasped, startled by the sound. 『I've been found out! What should I do, what should I do...?』 she looked around the room and saw a stack of cards on the large table. They were made of rather thick paper, and the front contained a neatly centred set of English words, embossed in gold. Behind the text was an emblem of what looked like a cogwheel. The back of the card contained nothing but the white surface of the paper itself.

『_It looks about the size of my ofuda..._』 she thought. Suddenly, she had an idea...

"Here we go..." the lockpicks clicked, and the door unlocked. Pocketing the tools, Jenkins took out a pistol from his hidden holster and slowly turned the doorknob to open the room. The hinges didn't make a sound as he opened the room. Robo oils them periodically to prevent unnecessary noise. Jenkins pointed the pistol around the room with both hands. He pointed to the left, and in a split, split second, before he could move the barrel right, something sharp pierced his hand. Three white, rectangular objects flew fast and hit the door like darts on corkboard. Jenkins retreated his pistol, but he was too slow as Robo suddenly skidded in front of the door, barging through the doorway and causing the scientists in the hallway to scatter, causing quite a stir. Their shuffling caused Jenkins to lose balance, falling on his bottom, pistol still in hand. The robot locked eyes with him momentarily. Though they were blank, there was a subtle hint of disoriented confusion in those half-closed "eyelids": not very Robo-like. Robo averted the gaze quickly, suddenly darting it towards the multiple people who stared at him in confusion. He zoomed off quickly with a panicky breath, escaping through the hallway with a number of cards in hand. It seemed like he was soaring through the air, because the scientists could see the soles of his shoes as he strode inches from the ground. Jenkins looked at the door, noticing the identical set that was just thrown. He wiggled a card out of its place, and saw the gold-embossed words "Dr. Atomic Robo Tesla".

"His business cards..." Jenkins whispered to himself, recognizing the words.

"Was that...Robo just now?" asked the scientist whom Jenkins was questioning earlier.

"Nope." Jenkins replied in his usual curt tone. "No, it's not." he quickly stood, noticing the spot where the card grazed his hand. It started to bleed.

"Why was he using cards? Didn't he have his Magnum with him in there?" one of the scientists wondered aloud.

"Maybe he finally lost his marbles after doing all that paperwork." replied another. Jenkins holstered his gun and ran after the runaway robot.

"Stay here." he said to them as he disappeared into the hall.

"What's going on, you guys?" someone asked. The person in question appeared in the other side of the hallway. He was yawning, rubbing his eyes from what appeared to be a long night of sleep. He wore short, jet-black hair which spiked out in straight strands and had sunglasses on. He sported an attire similar to Jenkins's, except he wore a dark green t-shirt with dual black lines going across it.

"Koa! You're still here?" one of the scientists appeared from the crowd. He was bald from the top, with a long patch of hair still holding out from the sides of his head. He wore thick, square-rimmed glasses and had an identical labcoat on just like the rest of the scientists. The only difference was his shoes, which were a pair of brown military boots. He still seemed too young to be bald, if working for more than ten years in Tesladyne was still considered young.

"Bernie. You're here as well?" Koa said, still dizzy from his sleep. "Where did the rest of the guys go? I just woke up and all their stuff were gone."

"Robo had them all take a day off." Bernie said, the spot between his brow seemed slightly wrinkled. "If you hadn't slept the entire day, you could've gone with them."

"Ahh well..." Koa said, scratching his head. "Guess I get to have overtime all to myself." he grinned. "What's going on?"

"Well...I think Robo lost it." Bernie said. "He barged out of his office throwing cards like he's Gambit or something."

"Hahahah! Who knew he liked the X-Men? Personally, I'm into Jean Grey, if you know what I mean..." Koa whispered.

"Jenkins said that wasn't Robo we just saw." Bernie shook his head.

"Huh? How the heck is that possible? Did someone finally hack into his brain?"

"Impossible." Bernie shook his head again. "His brain is just too complex to be hacked by any means at this point. It must've been something else, because whoever that was, it didn't seem to have any malicious intent."

Koa sighed. "There you go with your geek talk again."

"I can't help it. I worry about Robo sometimes."

"You should be his mom then." Koa shuddered at the sudden thought, shaking it off his head. "Whoa...bad picture there."

"I don't care what Jenkins says. I'm going after Robo." Bernie proceeded to run after the two. "You coming?"

"A Robo vs. Jenkins moment? This I gotta see!" Koa followed behind him.

『_I gotta find a way out of here..._』 Reimu thought as she flew past the rooms of the hall. Using the divine power within her, she was able to turn the cards into throwable ofuda, even though they weren't sacred paper. It did more than that though, as she was able to duplicate and inscribe signs on them without direct contact. To her left, the windows of the hall went past in a blur, revealing the surroundings of a humongous white building complex, which partly shone a faint orange from the bright sunrise coming from the direction she was heading. Further from the series of buildings was a set of cliffs overlooking a shore, the vast expanse of water ebbing and flowing in waves, crashing into the soft, grainy sand. It all seemed very unfamiliar to her: there weren't any islands like this in Gensokyo. She turned her head, to be astonished. A man of slightly bulky build was running after her, and he was catching up fast. In a quick glance, the man's eyes concealed nothing but the psyche of a cold-blooded killer. This panicked the shrine maiden greatly. She tried to speed up, but her new-found body prevented it due to the added weight. She was left with no other choice but to quickly land on her feet and let her legs do the work, sprinting for her dear life.

"Hottoitena!" she cried in annoyance. Surprisingly, she never tired one bit from each stride she took.

"Chotto-mattekudasai!" the man yelled out from behind her. She was further astonished by the man's knowledge of Japanese.

『_Am I still in Gensokyo, or even Japan?_』 she thought. 『_He doesn't even look Japanese!_』

『I need to speak with you.』 the man said in a loud, but seemingly monotone voice, still running after the runaway former shrine maiden. 『How did you inhabit that robot's body?』

『How the heck would I know that?』 Reimu cried. 『I was sleeping last night, and then I turned into this ugly guy the next morning!』

『You know the former owner of that body isn't gonna be happy when he hears that.』 Jenkins replied, his tone subtly animated.

『What the heck is this place anyway?』 Reimu cried out, annoyed.

『I'll tell you if you stop running.』

『You can tell me that when you die!』 she soared a distance, turned 180-degrees and threw a volley of business cards at the Action Scientist. He evaded it gracefully by doing a handstand followed by a cartwheel, landing on his feet to perform a run once more. Before they knew it, the hall ended, and they entered a large, darker room. By the sheer size of it, the Scarlet Devil Mansion itself could fit into the expanse, with Sakuya's help. The room extended into the sky, where there's no ceiling. A window shone bright sunlight to their left, and a large pane was situated just above and behind Jenkins. Boxes and metal cylindrical objects littered the sides of the area in uniform stacks, forming a maze, and huge, hook-like machinery hung in midair suspended by metal bars painted yellow and black. A large entryway was ahead, but before she could make a hasty escape, a large metal gate slammed shut. Reimu heard the entryway behind her slam shut as well. She was trapped. The Action Scientist had pulled a small emergency lever on the wall of the entered gate, causing both gates to close.

『We need to talk. And I mean talk.』 the man said, twisting and cracking his neck and knuckles. This intimidated Reimu, who took a few cautious steps away.

『You sound like you're interrogating a criminal...』 Reimu retorted, staring the man in the eye.

『You could say that. After all, you took over the body of a very important person.』

『I can assure you I didn't commit a crime, officer.』 Reimu said sarcastically, mockingly emphasizing the last word. 『I've been framed by someone, and even if I told you the culprit behind it, you wouldn't believe a word I'll say after that.』

『That's too bad.』 the man said, rummaging through some boxes on his left. 『I'm gonna have to knock you out and see if the doctors can do anything about you. Otherwise...』 he took out what appeared to be a large, long-barreled launcher. The weapon itself spanned about three feet, and despite its sheer size, it was concealed quite impressively among the boxes; the many stashes that Jenkins kept around Tesladyne for such emergencies. Anyone unlucky enough to stare at its barrel should kneel down and pray, except if that unlucky one had a willpower rivaling Jenkins's.

『Prove it.』 Reimu stood wide-eyed, her breath taken away by the size of the weapon he was holding. Surely this man is insane.

『I can't talk my way out of this one now, can I?』 Reimu attempted to look confident in her abilities, performing an offensive stance with her cards.

『You're catching on.』 the man aimed and charged after the shrine maiden.

『Taaaahh!』 she spun, throwing stacks of ofuda at the man, lit up with a blue aura by the intensity of her divine powers. Magenta lasers shot out of Jenkins's weapon, blasting the stacks, which caused the cards to split apart and scatter in multiple directions, causing a large blue storm of a deadly paper-cut barrage, piercing and cutting into metal cylinders and sticking into nearby wooden crates, breaking them. Jenkins lowered his speed drastically and hopped away without so much as a reaction on his face as the cards rushed towards him, slicing at his shirt.

"A clever move..." Jenkins thought. He leapt, landing on top of another stack of boxes to Reimu's left, immediately firing a multitude of wasp-sized missiles from the same barrel. The individual specks spun double helixes through the ofuda storm and rained down like a thousand arrows upon Reimu.

『Augh!』 she threw her palms out, retreating through the box maze on her right. A shining, red-orange barrier sprung up in place bearing the Hakurei insignia. The missiles exploded harmlessly as they touched its surface. Some of them bounced off and scattered wildly, hitting multiple stacks of boxes and blowing them up in a shower of orange flames. A missile immediately aimed for Jenkins. He leapt off from his stack and dropped to the ground as the missile hit, sending dust and wooden debris flying. Reimu slid out of hiding and threw a lightning-fast card, followed by another volley of cards, then sliding to the right. The initial card pierced Jenkins's shoulder, which immediately started to bleed. The card shone a bright blue, and swooped like a swallow. He quickly evaded the volley, which flew past and hit the metal wall ahead. What seemed to be a conventional battle soon became a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Jenkins quickly rolled to his right while more cards sprung up from different directions, sticking onto boxes, walls, and cylinders like knives. Without another word, Jenkins pointed his launcher to a nearby set of boxes, charging it. Reimu quickly seized the opportunity, her metallic figure soaring above the boxes towards her opponent, a glowing palm facing outward.

『Hakurei Amulet!』 Reimu launched a large, square-shaped ofuda the the size of cardboard out of her single palm. Jenkins quickly aimed upward at the fake Robo and fired a thick laser. Both shots cancelled out in a sea of orange and cyan explosions. Any boxes that remained standing were blown away, their contents destroyed from the carnage. Through the dust, Reimu descended with a foot flying through, going straight for the recovering Action Scientist, his teeth baring.

"Zenshin-fuujinshuu! Kuraeeee!" she drove a foot into the man's face, but he anticipated it and blocked with his launcher. She used the foothold as a boost and leapt, landing two more drill kicks, causing cracks to appear on the surface of the weapon. Reimu quickly flew away before Jenkins could made a fast counterattack. Landing on the ground, she wasted no time as she stood straight, planting her feet to the ground, metal palms facing out once more. A card appeared before her, spinning quickly.

『Evil-Sealing Circle!』 the immediate area around Jenkins radiated in blinding light. Cards materialised out of nowhere in bright orange auras, surrounding Jenkins in a shower of barrages, imprisoning him.

『That's enough!』 before the barrage closed in, Jenkins threw out a bayonet that was slung on his chest in a pocket holster. The knife, cutting through the air, phased out of the aura sphere and impaled through the card, neutralizing the attack. The surrounding barrage and aura disappeared in a puff of smoke, freeing Jenkins. The fake Robo staggered as the attack failed, breaking the intruder's concentration. Breaking the laws of Physics, both the card and the knife fell straight to the ground with a lound clang. The battle took a moment of respite, having spanned a total of five minutes and counting. Most of the fire has subsided, but the boxes that once stood in neat stacks were now broken into large wooden piles, their contents more or less salvageable. Flames raged, causing the room to remain sweltering hot. Oxygen began to run out quickly as the flames continued to suffocate the room. Jenkins tried to breathe as much of it as he can, recovering from the intense workout. Suddenly, the fake Robo dropped on all fours, and his eyes began to dim. Throwing multiple fast attacks in succession took a toll on the robot's limits, leaving his body unresponsive. Jenkins quickly took this opportunity and fired a full laser blast immediately, charring its interior and overloading its systems. With a quick eye, Reimu barely rolled out of the way as the humongous blast obliterated the wall behind her, opening the entire expanse to fresh air. With his launcher unusable, Jenkins threw it away on the side, ready to use his fists alone to finish the job.

『_Damn. It seems that my new body doesn't contain much spiritual energy._』 Reimu thought. 『_If this spellcard is to be a successful hit, I have to expend all of it, but then..._』 Reimu was quickly losing what was a quick advantage over her opponent...Casting another spellcard was a gamble for her, but her mind was set. She stood up, and held a palm out in front of her with an intense look. She focused on the space in front of her and started to meditate. An empty card appeared before her, spinning.

* * *

Above the room where the fight took place, Bernie and Koa barged open into a beige-coloured control room. A table in the middle of the room was a mess, with notes and schematics scattered on its surface. In front of them was a large window overlooking the large, dark expanse, which happened to be one of the frequented cargo bays in the complex. A small raised panel of knobs and switches was below it, which are controls for the cranes above. One of them was a large red button: the gate emergency override.

"What are we doing here?" Koa asked, looking around. The room felt rather warm for spring weather. "It's kinda hot." he added.

"Jenkins locked the gates to the cargo bay. He's insane!" Bernie exclaimed, running up to the panel to press the button. A timer started to count down on the panel. The Action Scientist looked up the window only to see the ghastly sight of the half-destroyed cargo bay.

"So? He's Jenkins. He always does insane things." an explosion could be heard, and a flash of bright light could be seen through the window. Koa noticed Bernie's shocked expression and peered out as well to see a glowing sphere of translucent blue expanding. They both squinted their eyes, and saw a figure within the sphere. It was Robo, suspended just centimetres from the ground with his body almost forming a cross. His arms were perpendicularly apart, forming obtuse angles. His index and middle fingers pointed out and his eyes were tightly shut, concentrating heavily, his head almost facing skyward. A octagonal sigil shone in bright cyan, forming a yin-yang symbol. The marvelous sight blew away the two Action Scientists in terms of absurdity.

"What's...Robo doing?" Koa asked, his breath taken away.

"I...don't...know." Bernie shook his head, dumbfounded. Without warning, the glass in front of them started to vibrate, causing them to retreat. The sphere's influential force caused the glass in the windows of the cargo bay and within the room to shatter, and both Action Scientists shielded their faces from the impact, quickly escaping the room.

* * *

Down below, Jenkins rushed at the glowing sphere. The sheer force of it threw him back. He quickly recovered with a backsault, landing on his feet. The sphere disappeared in a bright flash. Jenkins quickly covered his eyes with his unhurt arm. When he retreated it, the robot remained suspended in midair, the card now shining a bright gold lustre. The Action Scientist went to reach for his bayonet once more, but remembered he'd used it already. It was too late to retrieve it as bright spheres of multiple colours materialized and circled around Robo in a front-facing halo of sorts. The spheres stopped abruptly.

『Divine Spirit...unleash thy full power!』 the robot declared. The spheres shone brighter, as if preparing to strike. Jenkins took the cue, bracing for an attack.

『Fantasy Seal!』 the spheres hurtled towards him in succession. He sprinted right, shifting his weight onto each stride to pick up speed, causing two spheres to whistle by and explode to where he was before, sending large amounts of ground debris flying. He came up to a wall, set his right foot on its surface and back-flipped, causing another to almost hit him. He crouched low and broke into a hard run one more time, feigning the explosion of two more spheres, and as the last sphere closed in, Jenkins took out a grenade from his belt, turning his body to throw it without unpinning the device. The large explosive burst occured just in time for Jenkins to land on the ground and find cover. Everything went silent. The heavy smoke that was generated from the destruction began to settle quickly, as Jenkins reappears, catching his breath. The fake Robo's levitation wore off as he plummeted to the floor lifelessly. Jenkins started to pace towards the robot, dusting himself off.

『You put up quite a fight.』 he remarked coldly, speaking Japanese slowly. 『But I'm afraid playtime is over.』

『I...mpossible...』 Reimu uttered with the last of her strength before passing out.

"J-Jenkins!" the gates slid open in time just as Bernie and Koa raced in. The sight of the robot face-down on the ground was not a good omen for Bernie.

"Oh my God...you killed Robo!" Bernie kneeled before Robo's limp body.

"Totally not cool, man!" Koa added, frowning as he gazed sadly.

"Relax. He's just taking a nap." Jenkins said, not even turning to face them. "This is why I told you not to follow me." He crouched, heaving his muscles as he tried to carry the limp, half-ton body by its shoulders.

"You...need help with that?" Bernie inquired, still worked up about whether Robo was unconscious or dead.

"Nah, I'm good." Jenkins took another breath as he hauled the body, moving backwards. "Go call the doctor. Tell him it's time for Robo's annual check-up."


	4. Wind God Girls

CHAPTER 3: Wind God Girls

"_How many times have I passed out now?_" Robo thought groggily. His head spun dizzily, as if he just went through bouts of G-force training in a centrifuge. That, or his blood probably started to leak out from his brain, leaving him a bit numb. "_I think I lost count__…_"

『Oh? She's coming to.』 he heard a calm, female voice say. Very unlike that crazy character he saw a while ago. That girl was an insane and out-of-control, to put it bluntly.

"_I'm stuck in a godforsaken land that looks like Japan but probably isn't Japan because all the people are insane girls who want to kill you and eat your guts out and cast magic spells and __brew__ love potions while going on their merry way and__…_" Robo's stream of consciousness continued on prattling on in his subconscious mind. He seemed to be in a bit of a delirium.

『What's she saying?』 he heard a familiar voice make a query. He froze.

『Aww...look. You scared her.』 said the calming voice. 『You gave her a really good beating, didn't you? She's gonna have nightmares about you from now on.』

『Eheheh...I went a bit too far, didn't I?』 the familiar voice made a nervous laugh. 『She looks like a dead possum.』

『You're scaring the patient, Marisa. I think you should leave.』

『Fine...』 he heard footsteps moving away, and a door slide open and shut. He started to relax a bit.

『She's gone.』 said the voice. 『You can wake up now.』

"Whoa!" Robo sat up quickly, pretending to awake from a nightmare as he clutched onto his head. 『What a nightmare that was. I coud've sworn I was being chased by some crazy witch down a hallway.』 he was standing on some pillows beside a small table, covered in a heavy blanket: a kotatsu, he recalled. The room he's currently in looks very much so like the bedroom where he came to hours ago. It appears he's still in the shrine. Something tight wrapped onto his hair. He reached with his hand and felt it, only to realize that someone went and fixed his hair while he was unconscious. He looked up to see a young lady with a single-braided white hair, fastened with a green ribbon. It shone with a pure, silvery lustre. Oh her head looks to be a navy blue nurse's cap with a red cross and small dots embrodiered onto it. She wore a similar coloured attire with frills and strange dashes on the bottom of her long skirt. Her footwear seemed to be a variation of brown loafers. On her hand is a medicine bottle made of thick brown glass.

『Could've happened. Marisa said you passed out after you had a little...duel with her.』 the woman said, smiling.

『Marisa? Duel?』 the confusion and unfamiliarity returned, slowly rising as a chill down his spine.

『Oh dear, it appears you've gotten amnesia.』 the woman remarked sadly.

『My memories are fine.』 Robo gave her a dull sort of look. 『Where the heck am I, anyway?』

『Oh, that's a surprise.』 the woman stood up and put the bottle on the table. 『Any youkai with half a brain would know what this place is. You must be a really stupid one. More stupid than that ice fairy.』

『Do you talk to all your patients like that?』 Robo asked, incensed by her patronizing tone.

『Maybe.』 the woman smiled again. 『I am called Yagokoro Eirin. Not many youkai know me or the place where I live, so that's a first for you. You live in Gensokyo, by the way.』

『Gensokyo? Never heard of a city or a town named Gensokyo in Japan.』 Robo shook his head.

『That's the thing. Gensokyo never existed.』 Eirin took a small breath, beaming. 『You must be a spirited-away youkai from the outside world. A rare discovery indeed.』

『Uhh...yeah. I was outside just yesterday, and now I'm in here.』 Robo faked a laugh. 『What do you mean by "never existed"?』

『That's just it. It's complicated, don't you think? But this place used to be a part of Japan until a great boundary was established, causing Gensokyo to be wiped off the face of the planet. Nothing is supposed to come in and out of it, but there had been cases of weird objects appearing and humans coming in to get eaten.』

『Is that so...』 Robo said, thinking aside. "_Looks like I'll be staying here for a while...Hey, speaking of which, there had been reports of disappearances in Japan where we were brought in, but there's just absolutely no scientific evidence to back up the__ missing. Except that all the disappearances occurred in and around an old, abandoned shrine in the mountains_." he lit up. "_Maybe..._"

『Something on your mind?』 the woman asked, noticing Robo's expression.

『This shrine...』 Robo began. 『It doesn't happen to be connected to an old, abandoned one someplace in the outside world, is it?』

『Isn't that where you came from? Of course there's a link.』 she crossed her arms. 『This shrine stands at the eastern edge of the boundary, so you see two Hakurei shrines. One here, and one outside.』

『I see. I thought I'd ask.』

『You ask too many questions.』

『I have a thousand more to go.』

『Ask away, my dear. I won't be leaving anytime soon.』

『Hmm...』 Robo hesitated to ask the next question, but gave it a go anyway. 『You're a doctor, aren't you?』

『Bingo. I make good medicine too. I could make as many curealls and immortality elixirs if I wanted to.』

『Right...You don't happen to have a cure for switching bodies now, do you?』

『Hmm...』 the woman gave a thought, unfazed whatsoever by the gravity of his question. It surprised him. The woman seemed much older than she looked. 『I thought you were a shape-shifting youkai, but since you asked that...I suppose you were a victim of some kind of freak transmigration accident. Poor thing...』 she patronizingly petted him over the head. It felt rather demeaning.

『It's a spiritual ailment. I'm afraid I can't cure diseases such as those. You'll have to ask the original spellcaster, or perhaps seek solace before a shrine maiden.』 she chuckled a bit. 『Ironic, isn't it, since you're dressed as a shrine maiden. You should know there's a huge penalty for impersonating the Hakurei shrine maiden if anyone found out.』

『It's not like I asked to become a shrine maiden.』 Robo retorted, looking to the side.

『Maybe it's a secret wish? Hmm?』

『No! Just, no.』 Robo shook his head with a big frown on his face.

『If you insist...』 Eirin said, going off to a near corner of the room. A small rucksack was there. She dug her hand in and took out something folded and glossy. It was a magazine. 『I treated most of your bruises, so you'll have to stay still for a while and get some rest. I've made tea on the table there.』 she eyed a large kettle sitting on the table with the medicine bottle, its spout hot with steam. 『Also, you can read this if you like. I got it from Kourindou on the way here. The proprietor said people in the outside world read these things when waiting for a doctor. It's a ridiculous idea if you ask me, but it wouldn't hurt to try.』

『Err...thank you.』 Robo took the glossy paper. The front of it looked pretty sensational as the entire page is covered by a picture of a man in a bulky, winged jetpack. At the top, the words "Popular Science" was printed in bright red with black outlines. Besides the English title, the entire magazine was surrounded in Japanese text. Various images were superimposed on the initial picture, but what caught his attention was at the bottom-right corner of the large splash. It was a face of a robot with a shiny exterior, sporting two bright round cyan optics and a symmetrical line running down from his dual-fin head down to his chin. It was Robo's face.

『That thing looks familiar to you?』 Eirin asked, peering over the front page. 『It looks pretty cute, but I'm surprised a soulless piece of steel such as that could even talk or think for itself. Humans in the outside world sure have made a lot of scientific progress in the past millennia.』 Robo made no comment. He put aside the magazine and poured a cup of tea for himself, curious to put his taste senses to work. He'd always been wondering what tea tastes like. It was a shame he wasn't able to drink with the most influential people that one time during his last trip to Japan, as they'd gone on a large conversation on the many beneficial effects of tea and sake. Health science isn't Robo's cup of tea, figuratively speaking, and he felt partially left out by the conversation. He always had been revolted at the thought of everyday bodily functions, only to find that it was these organs inside these humans that make them so redeemable and unique in many different ways. Unfortunately, the human body is a foreign thing to him. Eating and drinking has been a surprisingly huge part of getting to know Japanese people, which Robo greatly lacks due to obvious reasons. He put the cup into his mouth and drank some of the green, misty liquid. It felt almost hot enough to tolerate as it soaked through his tongue and down his throat as he swallowed. It left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, which he disliked instantly, his mouth making a gagged reaction.

"_People actually like drinking this__?_" Robo thought disgustedly.

『You don't like tea?』 Eirin inquired. 『That's not good. Tea is supposed to be beneficial for your body and your mind.』

『Yeah, I haven't heard that a thousand times already.』

『It's true. A drink after each meal keeps the shinigami away is what I say to all my patients.』

『How old are you again?』

『Good question. I lost count at 1400.』

『I'm only 86.』 he tried to say with a straight face. What that woman said almost gave him a heart attack.

『Hey. You're only about twenty years older than the resident ice fairy and you're half as stupid as her.』 Eirin said, smiling as patronizingly as ever.

『Is that...supposed to be a compliment?』

『Depends on how you see it.』 Eirin suddenly looked out the window, suddenly startled at something, quickly grabbing the rucksack that was with her. 『Ooh, I gotta run. The moon princess needs help. Sorry I couldn't stay any longer. And follow my advice, alright? I'll hunt you down if you don't.』 she slid open the door and went off.

"_Strange...I didn't even hear anything._" Robo thought as he looked out the same window. It looked about midday, with the sun shining brightly. A few clouds went past, bringing rain with it in the days coming by. Mountains covered the expanse beyond, serving as physical borders to overcome for the adventurous spirit. Some cherry trees swayed nearby, causing some blossoms to flutter past the serene atmosphere. Some of it landed on the raised floor of the shrine. Robo gazed at it, smiling serenely. It's not everyday that he gets to see something as majestic as viewing cherry blossoms early in the springtime. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a realization struck him. He looked at the paper again, flipping to the featured article where his face was. Upon seeing the article, the thought started to bore a hole into his mind.

"_Crap! I completely forgot...!_"

* * *

Marisa stood at the shrine steps, sulking in the shaded roof of the shrine. The donation box stood in front of her, its slots starting to grow cobwebs. The number of pilgrims coming to the shrine seemed to be lessening day by day, even if Reimu's nowhere to be found. Somberly, she took out the book the fake Reimu gave her from her dress pocket. She played around with the pages, showing nothing but numbers and lines of equations. There was something different about it though, as there were now new scribbles containing Marisa's equations. After she raced to see Eirin about the situation, the Lunarian was happy enough to come with her to treat the supposed shrine maiden. While she was busy tending, Marisa had taken the time to solve the crossed-out equations, taking her less than half an hour to finish all of them. It's not that she was a math genius or anything like that, but the answer just seemed to come to her and she was able to solve all of them in a flash. She's a strange witch blessed with much intelligence.

『_I __could count all the digits of pi if I wanted to._』 Marisa thought proudly. She took a breath and smiled, finally realizing the situation that was at hand. Reimu had kept the book that night, meaning that she must've tampered with it before she came to the shrine. Serves her right, she thought, I would've done a better job with it.

『_Obviously, the spell worked. The only problem now is trying to find Reimu...and trying to know more of the youkai who took Reimu's place._』 she was about to re-enter the shrine when she noticed Eirin coming out of the living room and going down the small steps.

『Going already?』 Marisa asked.

『Kaguya called.』 Eirin said. 『She's probably fighting Mokou again. Their vendetta just never ceases to stop, doesn't it?』

『I see...What did you get out of the fake Reimu?』

『He's from the outside world.』 Eirin explained. 『He might be a youkai, since he's past the median age of humans.』

『He? How did you know it's a he?』

『He reacted to the newspaper you gave me quite well. He was ogling at one of the pictures.』

『I see...and whose face would that be, ze?』

『The robot's. It looked like a guy.』

『How can the robot look like a guy? Aren't robots technically genderless, ze?』

『A youkai from the outside world ogling at pictures of robots? How weird, yet very interesting!』 the two looked around in confusion, trying to locate where the high-pitched voice came from. Without warning, the dust from the stone steps stirred, and a strange girl dropped down from the roof of the shrine, her jet-black wings flapping. She wore a funny octagonal hat over her wavy, black hair, with white puffs of fur sewn onto a string attached onto the hat. Her white outfit sported frills on the collar, and her black short skirt ruffled about, exposing her smooth, slender, yet agile thighs. She wore long black socks with her red shoes, whose heels extended to a point that they looked like a pair of worn stilts.

『Journalist Shameimaru Aya, at your service!』 the girl piped up, taking out a small red notebook and a fountain pen from her skirt pocket. She went up to the two girls and leaned towards Eirin. 『So tell me, when did this incident occur? What is the fake Reimu's real name? Is he in quarantine right now? What were his motives prior to committing the crime?』

『Err...』

『No comment!』 Marisa swung the snooping tengu around to face her. She proceeded to push her out of the shrine. 『Papparazzi aren't allowed in the shrine, ze. Please go away.』 Aya took out her camera, snapping a picture of Marisa. The flash blinded the witch, causing her to flail her arms in a futile attempt to cover her face.

『Ooh, you're hiding something.』 the tengu said slyly, grinning. 『That makes it all the more interesting for our readers, you know. Thieving Witch Hides Hakurei's Dirty Little Secret. It's gonna be a super awesome scoop!』

『Outta the way! Coming through!』 something fast plummeted into the shrine's grounds, stirring a lot of dust in the courtyard. Inside the shrine, Robo jolted his head up from the magazine he's reading, wondering what was going on. In the dust, a winged figure staggered about as it stood up, coughing. When the dust settled, another tengu stood there with a similar outfit as Aya, except she wore a royal satin purple along with her white and black outfit. Her short skirt is of a checkerboard pattern, and she sported pigtails on both sides of her head, tied with purple marble hairbands. On her hand is a long, yellow contraption akin to a cellphone.

『Himekaidou Hatate, reporting for Kakashi Spirit News!』 the tengu made a salute to no one in particular. 『There have been, like, reports of an outsider youkai entering Gensokyo. He is believed to have been quarantined at the Hakurei Shrine by the shrine maiden, Hakurei Reimu. However, things, like, seem to have went wrong as the youkai possessed her.』 she seemed to be talking to no one in particular either, puzzling the three girls. Aya proceeded to storm over to the new guest.

『We now have-Waagh!』 Aya pulled the girl's pigtails, causing her to squeal.

『The Hakurei shrine is my territory.』 Aya said, smiling, but her eyes show a murderous tinge. 『Don't you have any other place to go for your scoops?』

『Gensokyo's, like, a free country, so I can go wherever I want! Augh!』 the two continue to argue, leaving Eirin and Marisa to their business.

『Well. Gotta go!』 Eirin flew off, leaving Marisa to fend off for herself.

『Hey! Wait a sec, what am I supposed to do with-』 she sighed. As the two started to brawl it out, she summoned her broom, entering the shrine. She swung the door the living room wide open with a loud clacking sound, startling Robo.

『We have to go.』 Marisa said, staring down at the fake shrine maiden with stern eyes.

『What?』 the robot was dumbfounded at the sudden intrusion.

『It's for your own good, ze.』 she grabbed the fake shrine maiden by her arm, gripping her by the wrist, dragging her out of the room. The grip felt painful to Robo, and he dropped his cup of tea from the arm, the liquid almost spilling on his clothes. On his other hand helplessly clung the magazine Eirin gave him. As the tengu fought, they caught sight of Marisa dragging someone away inside the shrine.

『The scoop's getting away!』 Aya screamed. 『After 'em!』 the two raced after the escaping duo.

『Genjii!』 Marisa called out as they both scrambled to the back of the shrine.

"Fwoooh!" the great turtle sprung out of the hot spring. Wish a swing of her arm, Marisa threw Robo out of the shrine as she rode on her broom, the shrine maiden landing on Genjii's hard shell with his stomach. Robo scrambled to her feet and pocketed the magazine, struggling to balance as both the turtle and the broom flew away. His shell seemed slippery on his shoes due to the buildup of algae on its shell.

『You won't, like, get away!』 Hatate cried, pushing past Aya as they both zoomed quickly into the air like fighter jets. She pressed her palms forward, spawning a barrage of blue blades at them. Marisa held onto her hat as she turned her broom around to face Hatate. She took out her Mini-Hakkero, grinning heavily as she craved for some action.

『Master Spaaark!』 a large, multicoloured laser surged out of the small contraption, aimed at Hatate. She quickly dodged the destructive beam and returned fire. Marisa veered past effortlessly at the pathetic display of danmaku and retreated her Mini-Hakkero. On the horizon, Aya began casting a spellcard.

『Crossroads of Heaven!』 spheres of bright blue materialized out of thin air. Carried by wind, the spheres zoomed after Marisa and Robo, moving unpredictably. They scattered in different directions, making it difficult to predict their direction.

『M'lady! Summon your gohei!』 the turtle yelled out gruffly.

『I'm a scientist, not a shrine maiden!』 Robo retorted in an uninterested tone.

『Do it now!』

『How?』

『Call it!』

『Come here, gohei.』 he said half-heartedly, his head feeling hotter than usual as he refused to believe that something like this is happening. A world seperate from his, where magic thrives and mythical creatures prance about, and he's the resident shrine maiden who happens to possess divine power. This truly is a nightmare, he thought, but if all this hocus-pocus is going to help him find his way back to his own body, he might as well make do with what he has. As if by magic, regardless, an oaken stick with paper streamers at the end appeared on his hand, astonishing him.

『Now, call on your spiritual energy and cast a spellcard!』 Genjii instructed. The barrage began to pick up speed, catching up with them.

『Stop slacking off, stupid youkai!』 Marisa yelled. 『Help me out here!』 Robo hung his head low embarrassingly as he attempted to concentrate, uttering out the first thing that came into his mind. He held the wooden stick with both hands in front of him.

『S-summon a barrier!』 a defensive force resonated within his body. An electric-blue barrier expelled from within him and rippled through the horizon, vaporizing all of the incoming bullets.

『That was too strong, but whatever.』 Marisa remarked, casting a spellcard with a free hand. 『Stardust Reverie!』 her broom lit up with magical energy, zooming towards Hatate as stars flew out in its wake. Hatate froze in terror as the broom-riding magician closed in. It made a direct hit as the broomtip rammed into her gut. Marisa quickly went past and rose in altitude, shifting her broom upright one more time. the attack knocked out Hatate, and she plummeted from the sky. Aya stopped to smirk at her rival's defeat.

『Now I can concentrate!』 Aya said. 『Hold still so I can take a picture!』

"Oryaaah!" Marisa fired another laser from her Mini-Hakkero, which Aya dodged without effort. With a huge burst from her wings, she soared at supersonic speeds towards Robo, prepping her camera. Robo held out a palm, his gohei held out in another.

『Explode!』 a burst of divine energy burst out of his palm, forming a bloom of red-orange. Aya anticipated the attack and evaded by doing a somersault over Robo and the turtle he's flying on. He quickly shielded his face before the nosy tengu could make a snapshot.

『It appears the possessed shrine maiden lost his ability to fly, resorting to using the turtle youkai.』 Aya said to herself, writing it down her notebook. Robo jumped up, trying to swipe it from her hands in vain. Aya was just too fast.

『Master Spaaark!』 Marisa threw another laser at Aya. She was too hell-bent on eliminating her that she completely forgot her close proximity to Robo and Genjii.

『What the hell?』 the laser just barely lopped his head off as he ducked to avoid the immediate blast. Aya flew away out of sight, unscathed by the attack. Marisa eventually caught up with the turtle and the fake shrine maiden.

『Are you crazy?』 Robo screamed, losing his mind. 『You could've knocked us off the sky!』

『Relax. I almost got her.』 Marisa said, dusting off debris from her skirt and hat. 『At least she left us. For now.』

『Not for long!』 Aya cried from the distance. Marisa gasped. Aya reappeared, directly above them.

『Say your prayers. Peerless Wind God!』 Aya began to glow a faint red as glowing green pellets closed in on the three of them. Using her momentum, Aya swooped down, leaving a large trail of red light behind her. The excessive force of her descent caused Robo to fall off the turtle and Marisa to get knocked off her broom. Genjii in particular got knocked out by the force and fell unconsciously.

『Eyaaaah!』 Robo and Marisa shrieked as they sharply descended into a sea of trees below.

『Eheh...I think I over did it.』 Aya commented to herself, smiling. 『Oh, well...Time to go look for 'em.』


	5. Plight of the Mad Scientist

CHAPTER 4: The Plight of the Mad Scientist

『Nnh...whaa...?』 Reimu regained consciousness, her eyes automatically switched on and focused on the ceiling above her. Instead of seeing the whirring ceiling fan of the last room, she saw a circular set of orange lights attached to an adjustable ceiling, glaring straight down at her face. She blinked and looked around. The room was partially dark, with bright-coloured cupboards and drawers on the walls of the room in front of her. The exit was situated just meters from where she happened to be reclined, as the room is rather small and dimly-lit. The door had an ominous quality to it. It was bright, but the window attached to it was blurry with notches, but bright with white light. She tried to move her arms and legs, but couldn't as they were tightly strapped onto the barber's chair with sturdy metal shackles, where she is reclined. She is half-naked, her shirt no more, instead revealing a bulky steel exterior with a medium-sized circle in the middle and a line drawn across her lower belly. There appeared to be a pair of shutters safeguarding the orifice within, and they were wide open, revealing some sort of connection port of sorts. She felt uncomfortable in the position that she's in, feeling the urge to cover her toplessness with her arms, regardless of the fact that her current body doesn't have any breasts to begin with.

『Getting comfortable?』 Reimu darted her head around to see where the voice came from. Mysteriously, the man from before appeared in the dim darkness before her. She uttered a cry of panic.

『Can you please not do that?』 Reimu attempted to recollect her cool by replying snappily. It didn't prove to be effective on him. He almost seems inhuman. 『And why does this place look like an interrogation room? Why am I strapped to this chair?』

『No reason. We didn't want you to pull a fast one on us.』 Jenkins replied, cold as ever.

『Right...and before I realize it, you're taking out the chains and the whips. You're totally enjoying this aren't you? You sadist...』

『I don't do that sort of thing. Also, you're a robot.』 Jenkins crossed his arms, unfazed by the remark. 『You have a really perverted mind.』 he strolled off to one side of the room, to Reimu's right. 『I can't let you out for a while. People will get suspicious.』

『Get suspicious? The fact that you destroyed that entire room seemed more than suspicious to anyone.』

『It happens.』

『I can assure you nothing's wrong with me.』

『Two things.』 Jenkins faced Reimu with an accusing finger just between her eyes. 『One, you sound like a girl. Two, that funny flashy stuff you did with the cards. You can explain yourself out of that one, can you?』 Reimu sat silently for a few seconds, laughing.

『Ok, you got me.』 Reimu confessed. 『I'm a shrine maiden. The funny stuff I did was real.』

『Oh, I'm not saying they were fake. They really hurt.』 Jenkins said, dropping his finger. 『So you really are a shrine maiden. I'm surprised.』

『You don't...look surprised.』

『I've seen barrages before, just not the colourful kind.』 Jenkins cleared his throat.

『What are you...implying?』 before Jenkins could answer the question, a door behind her chair slid open with a slight whirr and closed shut. A thin, orange-haired man in a lab coat and horn-rimmed glasses handed Jenkins a clipboard. Some incoherent whisperings were done, and the man quickly left. Jenkins continued to look at the clipboard, his eyebrows showing a bit of astonishment.

『Good news. Nothing's wrong with you.』 Jenkins said without much inflection to the tone. Putting aside the clipboard. 『Bad news. Everytime you do that funny flashy stuff with the cards, it drains a part of your core atomic energy.』

『Meaning...』

『You're slowly killing yourself, to put it in a way.』

『Damn, just as I thought...』 Reimu thought, a tense feeling suddenly overcoming her. 『This body doesn't contain much spiritual energy, so I end up pooling from this body's lifeforce instead.』

『If you'd like to leave that body. Now would be a great time to do so.』

『I can't. It's not that easy.』 Reimu said. 『Someone switched bodies with me through a-how should I put it in a way that you would understand...?』

『Magic?』

『Yeah.』

『No such thing.』 Jenkins shook his head. 『If you're telling me that you switched bodies with the real Robo due to some kind of magic hocus-pocus, then you're mistaken.』

『I'm telling you the truth, ok? There, I said it.』

『I don't care if you're telling the truth or not.』 Jenkins seems to grow a bit frustrated as he went up to Reimu and grasped his chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. 『You have until tomorrow to get out of that body. Until then, you have to find a way.』

『Tomorrow? A spell like this could last for months!』 Reimu cried out in desparation. 『Unless you're gonna let me out of these damn shackles, then you're not helping!』

『I see.』 Jenkins let go of her chin. Just as Reimu takes a breath of relief, he suddenly hits her with a hard slap across the face. Reimu screamed in what she anticipated as pain, but she didn't feel a thing besides the hard thwack on her metallic exterior. 『I'll let you go. But whatever you're pulling, it better work.』

『I can assure you that it will, but was that really necessary? Ouch...』

『I get overboard sometimes. I make a good interrogator if I do say so myself.』 Jenkins gave a small grin.

『You really are a sadist...』 Reimu said, rolling her eyes disbelievingly. 『The name's Reimu.』

『Jenkins.』

* * *

"Tomorrow?" the words suddenly blurted out of Bernard's mouth. He and Koa sat on a white table among the many empty ones in the complex cafeteria. Since most of the Action Scientists had left on their day off. The only other people who happened to be in the cafeteria in the afternoon were the two of them. They both held a cup of coffee in their idle hands.

"Huh?" Koa inquired, puzzled at his colleague's sudden outburst.

"Oh, nothing. I could've sworn I heard something."

"You're hearing things, that's what. This place is freaking deserted."

"But you know what's gonna happen tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, right!" Koa grinned, slouching a little, containing a bubbling excitement welling within him. "The first annual Tesladyne exhibition! How could I forget that? Damn, I'm so excited! I wanna go there so badly!"

"You do know that only a handful of staff are picked go. Even Jenkins isn't excluded, and you know how he hates crowds."

"That just makes the odds of me being picked much, much higher."

"Don't count on it." Bernard said, frowning. "By the way. Something's really bugging me about Robo."

"Oh right. That crazy destruction he did with that weird magic thing?" Koa took a few gulps from his coffee cup. "I've seen weirder...but if Robo's doing it, then it's more than weird."

"I know. Robo isn't exactly a fan of magic and sorcery and all that." Bernie scratched his head with both hands frustratingly. "Dammit...I don't get it!"

"Get what?"

"Why did Robo do that? I mean...it didn't seem like he lost his marbles at all, but maybe...no, that's not it."

"Not what? You're not making sense."

"The only explanation that Robo would do such a thing is if someone hacked into his brain, or if someone...possessed his body. Both are impossible and improbable in many different ways!"

"You really shouldn't perseverate on things like that. You do know you're overthinking things, right?" Koa gulped down more of the coffee until it was half empty. "You told me it's impossible to hack into Robo's brain, right? Maybe the latter's the only explanation there is, as absurd as it is." Koa put an arm down on his colleague's tense shoulder. "Magic is nothing but an unexplained phenomena in the endless field of science, mi amigo. Robo is an old-fashioned grouch. He wouldn't get it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't either."

"Hmm...maybe you're right." Bernard hesitantly replied, sighing. He took his cup of coffee, still hot, and quickly downed the whole thing in a matter of gulps. Koa gazed at him, wide-eyed and astonished. "There. I feel better now."

"H-holy crap, man!" Koa almost fell from his seat, trembling. "You sure you're tongue's not burning there?"

"I have a high tolerance for things like these." Bernard said, his frown dissipating to form a smile. "Let's go down to HQ. Maybe something will happen there."

* * *

Out of nowhere, an alarm blared annoyingly, as if warning the personnel of a serious nuclear accident. The entire halls and rooms of the complex began to flash red. Red police lights in the ceiling spun, causing spotlights to appear. Reimu and Jenkins walked stately side by side. The former shrine maiden was able to get her clothes back before she was let go. As they had left the secluded, unknown room, she can't help but feel that this Jenkins character is a rather shady one. It gives her chills down her spine just being in his presence. It's hard to tell whether he's on her side or not, and seems to tread a thin line in between. She kept glancing at his face at the corner of her eye, but he remains serious and frigid as they both marched through the hall, climbing a stair into a large, almost open-air room. Large screens projected unknown images before her. The central screen showed what looks to be a giant, steel beast standing more than a hundred feet tall, toppling large concrete buildings. The other screens presented a similar scene, in a different angle. Contrasting the carnage being shown, large windows in front showed the afternoon sky with a brilliant dazzle emanating from the sea beyond. It was slightly disturbing to juxtapose, but nevertheless the scenery from the windows were breathtaking.

"Robo!" a man approached her with a quick gait. He wore a brown vertical striped polo shirt and matching pants. "We have reports of an unknown mechanical monster rampaging through the Harlem area! It's rampaging its way through Central Park. What's our course of action?" as urgent as the man sounded, she couldn't understand a word he just said.

"Are the feds giving us the a-ok?" Jenkins inquired.

"Yep. Minimal damage is preferable. They're paying us to help them clean up." the man answered promptly. "They also said to keep the criminal until further notice."

"We'll bring in a primary strikeforce. Just Robo and me." Jenkins declared. "This should be an easy job. Ready two jetpacks and Lightning Guns."

"But sir, I'm asking for-"

"Do you need Robo's answer for everything? Look, I just gave you the order. Just do it." Jenkins said. The man quickly left. Reimu stood puzzled over the railing, overlooking the many people in matching outfits either sitting with small black contraptions over their heads chatting or walking around with clipboards on their hands. It seemed really busy all of a sudden, a strange contrast to the sleepy, silent hallways.

『What are they doing?』 she inquired.

『A giant monster is terrorizing New York. It happens a lot here. Your crazy shrine maiden magic might work wonders against it, but I wouldn't recommend it.』 Jenkins replied.

『_Monster? New York?_』 the terms seemed foreign to her as she thought. 『_Just as I thought. I'm in the outside world now._』 Jenkins noticed the fake robot's concerned reaction, but made no effort in questioning her origins. Now wasn't the time.

"What the-!" they both looked up the screen. The monster seemed to have retracted its head and a large mechanism appeared in its place. Its long, pointed tip aimed skyward. Particles started to gather into the tip. "It has a laser cannon. And it's gathering energy!"

"But why is it pointing at the sky?" asked one of the staff.

"We gotta move, now." Jenkins quickly grabbed onto Reimu's arm and ran, dragging her along with him to the deployment area.

In a matter of minutes, Reimu and Jenkins flew across the blue, almost cloudless sky. They wore large, bulky yet lightweight jetpacks which gave out a large boost as they rose in altitude. In their hands were long-barreled Lightning Gun rifles. The jetpack was almost more than helpful for Reimu as she didn't need to use her divine powers to fly. However, she had never seen a gun before, and was curious as to how it works. She accidentally fired a blast, causing a wild lightning strike to shoot from its barrel, piercing through the sky akin to a shotgun in a bright flash.

『What are you doing?』 Jenkins gave a disbelieving sigh. 『The guns only have a limited charge. Don't waste it.』

『I've never seen a gun before, let alone used one, okay? Sue me.』

『If you've really got the urge to throw something aside those cards,』 the Action Scientist took out a belt of grenades strapped onto his chest and tossed it at Reimu. She barely caught it by the steel end. 『Use those grenades.』

『Grenades?』 Reimu gave it a thought as she gazed at the canisters attached to the belt.

* * *

『Ah, a grenade?』 Rinnosuke examined the green, bulb-like object that was left on a distant table in his shop. It was a lazy day, when Reimu and Marisa decided to visit him at Kourindou due to the lack of customers he was getting. The shop carried various curios and oddities from the outside world. 『Well, according to its shape and size, I'm guessing it was used as a weapon.』

『It doesn't look like a weapon.』 Marisa said in disbelief. 『Do people in the outside world wage wars all the time?』

『According to some old magazines I've read from the outside world, the bulb contains a special type of gunpowder, as well as small steel balls that scatter when the powder reacts and explodes.』

『Oh, like this?』 Marisa took the bulb and, out of curiosity, pulled out the circular pin. Rinnosuke began to panic.

『_Let go of that!_』 Rinnosuke cried, reaching for the grenade on her hand.

『Huh?』 the shopkeep had snatched the grenade from her hand, slid open the shop entrance and threw it skyward. The entire store rumbled as the grenade exploded in a fiery blast. Quickly closing the door, shrapnel almost teared through the clay and wood from the roof. Everything was unscathed, and the shopkeep sighed in relief.

『Don't. Do that. Again.』 he clarified his words hotly.

『Sorry~』

『Personally, I think sacred fire is more effective.』 Reimu remarked nonchalantly.

* * *

Arriving at the scene of the incident, the monster looked bigger than it did in the projected screen that they've seen earlier. It seemed docile at this point, but apparently caused a lot of damage in its wake prior to deploying its laser cannon. Its shiny, minimalist, steel body is that of a form of Godzilla, shining brighly from the sun's rays. Its head was retracted, and the large laser cannon continued to gather particles in the air, coalescing into a ball of bright blue energy. Obviously, a full-frontal attack wouldn't work. As the monster charged, crowds of people below in the streets were still evacuating the scene in a panic, running as far as they could to avoid being killed by the blast radius of the cannon.

『I see an opening down in the monster's lower belly!』 Reimu informed. 『It looks to be stuck shut, though.』

『No problem.』 the strikeforce duo descended. Charging his Lightning Gun, he expelled a large thunderbolt with a force powerful enough to blast open the doors to the entry point. It appears that both their Lightning Guns are made differently. Before they could enter however, they were met with resistance from uniformed personnel within the large war machine. They were equipped with machine guns, puttering away as the bullets barely grazed past the two.

『Eat this!』 Reimu fired another shotgun wave, blowing away the resistance without much effort. They entered the belly of the beast, which in itself seems to be a mobile building of sorts. Inside is a maze of similar metal hallways and a large expanse spanning all the way to the top of the monster. Large systems and connections of pipe systems littered the ceiling and floor of the halls. Before they could enter the large room, the hall in which they raced into split into two opposite directions. Jenkins immediately signaled to split up, and Reimu complied.

"Kuraeee!" Reimu broke into a quick run as a wave of enemy troops scrambled against her with guns blazing. She threw a hard punch on one, followed with a slap from her rifle to another, an elbow strike on a third, and a spin kick knocking out the rest of the clump. Upon further examination of these troops, she could see a glint of steel in their bodies, as well as their faces. She wasn't fighting human opponents.

『Mechanical soldiers? Well that's new...』 in the distance ahead, she spotted another enemy soldier preparing to fire a unique, long-barreled weapon. Reimu quickly threw an ofuda, slicing the weapon in two. The astonished soldier quickly regained its senses and came after her with a bayonet. Reimu sprinted, and broke into a slide, knocking the enemy off-balance.

"Zenshin-shoutenshuu!" she did a backsault kick, raising her body with her divine power and her foot made contact with the soldier's chin. Causing him to fly in the air and drop unconsciously on the ground. She raced to the large expanse ahead: the entire interior of the beast. The area was covered in moisture and steam, and was dim with cyan light coming from the laser cannon sitting atop the war machine. Using her jetpack, she flew upwards, jumping into the many railed platforms above her, using them as stepping stones to reach her way up. On the other side of the expanse, she could see Jenkins fighting off another hoarde of soldiers using his Lightning Gun and bayonet. As another wave descended upon her, she aimed her gun and fired, dispatching her wave quickly and without effort. She did another boost jump, throwing another volley of ofuda towards his teammate's general direction, helping him out with some suppresive fire. They both jumped from platform to platform as they met an unending amount of resistance, which they dispatched quickly and efficiently, if blasting each wave with Lightning Guns were to be considered efficient. They eventually reached the last platform: a hexagonal metal panel. Judging from the curved metal wall around them, they appeared to be at the neck of the monster. Light shone in the small crevices of the supposed ceiling, where the cannon is apparently situated.

『Why do I get the feeling that I'm in a video game?』 Jenkins wondered aloud as hordes upon hordes of single-minded robot soldiers appeared once more to challenge them.

『Maybe because whoever made this thing is a huge Dynasty Warriors fan.』 Reimu said as she and Jenkins stood back-to-back in a defensive position. 『I think I made over five-hundred kills already.』

『That makes us about even.』 the mass grew and charged, leaping at them. 『I think now's the time you use up those grenades.』

『I'm one step ahead of you.』 Reimu took the belt slung across her chest and tore it off in one swiping motion. Like a whip, she lashed the belt, causing the the grenades to unlatch from the belt, and the safety pins to come off. As the grenades cooked and soared towards their targets, she threw a stack of ofuda upwards, which stuck on each of the rolling grenades. With her set of fingers, she formed various handsigns in quick succession, calling on her power of purification.

『Sacred Fire!』 the grenades exploded, but instead of shrapnel scattering in all directions, the explosion from the grenades coalesced into a gigantic white firestorm, encircling the two and vaporizing the gigantic incoming horde. The storm itself knew no bounds as it rose from the ground up to the ceiling where the cannon continued to gather energy. It burned through the ceiling and engulfed the cannon, causing it to explode. The gathered energy dissipated and scattered back into the sky.

『That's not what I meant!』 Jenkins retorted in a loud voice, putting a palm on his forehead.

"No!" a voice cried from the ceiling. "My plans for total domination had been ruined, ruined I say!"

『That's our culprit.』 Reimu said as she disregarded the last comment, racing up to the crevice, which opened a bit from unstability due to the heavy damage. She came down seconds later, carrying an old man with her, who kicked and screamed as she carried him over her shoulder. He fit the rather stereotypical archetype of a mad scientist, complete with thick glasses, stuck-out white hair, and a dirty white lab coat.

『Well then, let's go.』 as the cannon began to totter and fall into the interior of the war machine, the small team of two made its way out around the falling cannon and out the open orifice of the monster's beheaded metal corpse. As they flew a long distance away, the opening atop exploded within as the laser cannon dropped to the foot of the war machine. The culprit stood agape at the scene, his years of work easily destroyed by Tesladyne.

"My work...it's all gone..." the mad scientist began to bawl his eyes out. "If it hadn't been for you two meddling-Arghh..."

『Well, let's take him back before we get caught into more trouble.』 Jenkins said, shooting off into the horizon. The sun was quickly setting behind them by then, the blue sky turning into a slight indigo.

『You sure you don't wanna carry this guy? Ugh...he's crying and drooling over my shirt!』


	6. The Trouble Never Ends

CHAPTER 5: The Trouble Never Ends

"Damn, my aching head...!" Robo clutched at his head as he tried to balance himself as he stood. His vision was blurry, but slightly focused as the shaking stopped and he was able to see what was directly in front of him. They were lucky, after all. Most of the shrubbery from the trees was able to absorb their fall for the most part. Falling still hurt, however. In front of Robo, the blond-haired witch lay on the ground, her hat misplaced by a bush to the right. He went and picked it up as the girl groaned, struggling to get up.

『Shit! That was some fall...』 Marisa muttered to herself. She looked up to see the fake Reimu holding out her hand. Hesitantly, she took it, and he heaved her up so she could stand. The fake maiden also gave her the hat, which she took, dusting off and putting on.

『Now what?』 Robo said to himself, looking around the vast expanse of trees and shrubbery. 『I only have a matter of hours to return to my original body. It's going to be a fiasco if I don't come back in time.』 he looked about in concern.

『A matter of hours, huh?』 the girl didn't seem surprised by his statement. 『No problem, ze! We're on our way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, which is just north of here. We're at the Forest of Magic at the moment. All we have to do is cross the Misty Lake, then it's smooth sailing from there, ze?』 Robo grunted irritatedly at her response.

『Arrgh...This is starting to sound like some kinda moronic fairy tale adventure.』 Robo said, scratching both sides of his head. 『Remind me not to do that crazy shrine maiden stuff again. If I can't have a gun to use, then whatever I can use to swing with is fine with me.』

『Whatever. We'll see what we can find.』 the girl said, facing him. Robo was expecting her to lash out at him, but with her mood swings it was hard to tell. 『The name's Kirisame Marisa. Sorry about before, I guess I kinda overreacted about you.』 she pouted a bit.

『Name's Robo. Don't worry about it. I'm sure there was a suitable explanation for that. I'm a lousy foreigner, after all.』

『Robo? Interesting.』 Marisa grinned. 『I've read about you in the newspapers that pop up in Kourindou once in a while. You seem to be a big name, ze.』

『I-indeed.』 he grinned back hesitantly at the witch girl. It seems that even an isolated hick country like Gensokyo knew something about him. Surprising, but he's proud of it.

『Reimu's body is so not you.』 Marisa realized.

『It was obvious from the beginning.』 Robo raised one eyebrow at her.

『By the way, you're talking about the first Tesladyne exhibition earlier, aren't you? I've already read about it, so leave the fixing to me, ze!』 eagerly, she summoned her broom, but looks around as if something's missing.

『Where's Genjii?』

『That talking turtle?』

『Ladies, I'm over here!』 the bushes in the distance stirred violently. They both approached the bush to see the turtle, flat on his back. 『I'm afraid I'm going to need a boost. That tengu knocked me out pretty good.』

『Speaking of which, we have to lie low. She's still looking for us.』 Marisa said, flipping the turtle about. Robo stood on the turtle as he levitated.

『Can I ask a favour?』 Marisa turned to ask Robo. 『No matter what happens, I'll watch your back, and you watch mine, alright?』 she held out her hand. Robo hesitated for a moment.

『I'd be more enthusiastic about this if I wasn't partnering up with a witch, but...』 he took it and shook her hand. 『We're in this together.』

『Alright! Let's go!』 they both zoomed away past the trees, reaching the end of the woods in a matter of minutes and entering a vast expanse of misty waters.

『There you are!』 behind them, the dreaded tengu with the black wings returned, speeding in pursuit of them.

『She found us already?』 Robo turned around to see her closing in. A card was on her hand, and instead of a camera, she carried a fan in the shape of a large maple leaf, accented with black blotches near the stem area where the handle is.

『Let's finish her off once and for all!』 Marisa readies her Mini-Hakkero.

『Tengu Macroburst!』 with a swipe of her fan, she summons a staggering number of colourless wind blades, which made an arc as it sped towards them.

『Meteonic Shower!』 from her weapon spewed out colourful stars that scattered in the air, exploding with the blades in tremendous bursts. Robo could feel the rumbling of the disturbance even in the air.

『You won't last long now!』 her voice seemed close to proximity. Robo turned around, and saw a foot driving into his face.

"Augh!" he fell off from his turtle.

『Reim- I mean, Robo!』

『M'lady!』 Marisa and Genjii cried out in unison.

『Oh, so that's his name.』 Aya closed in on the descending shrine maiden, who became half-conscious. 『Say cheese!』 her camera went off with a snap, as she was able to get a picture of Robo's face. Surprisingly, Robo quickly recovered and landed a quick backsault kick up at Aya's gut. The tengu keeled over, accidentally dropping her camera. The fake shrine maiden landed on something solid on the ground with his two feet. Upon further inspection, he landed on a block of frozen ice, entirely covered in cold mist. In the center of the ice looked like a thin shape of a katana stuck in the block.

"Now that's convenient!" quickly, he ran towards the object and pulled it out, surprisingly not slipping on the ice. As he slid off the edge of the block, he jumped, landing on the incoming turtle's back.

『M-my camera!』 Aya cried as it fell into the water. She clutched at her gut. It was a hard blow.

『You're finished!』 as the turtle picked up speed, Robo took a stance with the newfound sword. At an almost supersonic speed, he slashed past Aya, leaving a painful flesh wound at the side of her stomach and on her upper arm. A small amount of blood stained the edge of the blade, but the cut was by no means fatal.

『Uwaaaah!』 the tengu reeled back from the pain and fell from the sky like a downed bird shot by a hunter. From a distance, Robo saw her plummet into the ice-cold lake with a large splash.

『Well, that was easy!』 Marisa said.

『My toy! Give it back!』 icicles rained down upon them in large clumps. The sudden attack from above caused the two to stay on their toes as they grazed past the barrage. From the mist, a small figure flew after them. She wore a triangle-patterned dress made with an icy blue, followed by matching hair, tied by an also matching ribbon. Her icy wings fluttered quickly, and she looked very upset.

『Oh, this?』 Robo glanced at the sword he carried. Much to his dismay, it was a wooden katana, possibly made of white oak, but regardless the bladed edge was carved to be razor sharp. He started to wonder how a small child, even a winged one, could even get a hold of a dangerous weapon. 『Little kids shouldn't be playing with swords.』

『She's right, you know.』 Marisa added smugly. 『Run away and play with your little fairy friends, ze.』

『Shuddap! I'm not a kid!』 the small fairy whined, raising her hands and summoning a misty blanket to cover herself.

『I'm the strongest!』 blades of ice shot out from the mist in all directions, making it difficult to anticipate where the attack was coming from. Robo and Marisa quickly retreated and sped northward through the lake, away from the firing zone.

『Umm...why are we escaping, ze?』 Marisa asked, confused as she looked at Robo. 『We're dealing with a really stupid ice fairy here.』

『Beats me.』 Robo replied. 『Running's always the best tactic!』

『Well, if you're gonna be like that...』 she stopped turning her broom around. The fairy jumped out of the misty blanket, her hands brimming with frost. Instead of taking out her Mini-Hakkero as usual, the witch faced palms out before her, chanting.

『Icicle Machine Gun!』 small icicles continuously shot past the fairy. Icicles aimed directly at Marisa were suddenly deflected by an invisible sphere, distorting at an arc before moving straight ahead. The little girl gasped.

『What? No way!』

『Uh-huh...Earthlight Ray!』 pillars of searing light jutted out from the earth, flanking towards Cirno. She evaded by descending, and escaping through the openings. From her frost-covered hands she summoned a sharp, two-edged sword, prepared to do an overhead slash.

『Icicle Blade!』

『Too slow!』 Robo leapt in the way, clashing with the ice fairy's blade using the back side of his sword. With a mighty swing, the flimsy frosted sword broke into two. The force caused him to backsault in midair, landing on Genjii's back. With a nod, the two quickly escaped northward across the lake.

『Eheheh...I forgot I'm running out of spellcards, ze. It could've been a breeze by myself though.』 Marisa laughed, scratching her head.

『Now's not the time to play.』 Robo said, keeping his feet planted on the turtle's back. The turtle had been silent the whole time. They looked back, only to see someone stirring the water down below, flying underneath them and catching up fast. It appears that the ice fairy hadn't given up just yet.

『Over there!』 over the horizon was a glimpse of a clock tower, fashioned out of scarlet red bricks. As they edged closer to their destination, the clock tower turns out to be connected by a larger shape of red bricks, forming an elegant-looking mansion. Dark green gabled roofs could be seen up top, its corners decorated with beastly shapes, and Victorian-age grilles were constructed at the edges with spikes shooting upwards to prevent the nesting of unwanted birds. Few windows could be seen, consequently making the mansion look like a fortress, if not for the white stone balconies sticking out. A large courtyard could be seen, littered with beautiful flowers, which is guarded by a large gated wall. They descended, only to see a young woman standing guard at the gate itself. She wore a braided, long red hair and donned a jade green qipao. A green, beret-like cap was on her head. She stood with a serious face and an attack stance, which Robo recognized quickly as they approached.

『On the count of three,』 Robo dictated to Marisa. 『We veer off opposite directions and barge through the gate, you copy?』

『Sounds like a plan, ze!』 she returned with a thumbs-up. The two sped downwards the gatekeeper as she shifts her stance, a foot sticking out from the flap of her outfit.

『One.』 the fairy emerged from behind them, her fingertips dazzling with icy power.

『Two.』 the gatekeeper shifted another stance, and jumped immediately, her foot stuck out in a ninety-degree angle preparing to strike.

『Three!』 Robo and Marisa evaded to the side, colliding with the gate in one massive force, bursting it open.

『Lotus Flower Kick!』

『Perfect Freeze!』 the gatekeeper collided with the fairy in midair. In a matter of seconds, they both made contact and froze each other in a giant icy prism, dropping down to the paved ground. The two intruders landed and ran towards the elegant, double doors of the mansion. With a well-placed jump-kick, Robo burst open the doors to the interior. They were greeted with a dimly-lit grand hall, a coloured carpet with golden tassels awaited them. It seemed as if no one was home. Cautiously, Robo and Marisa entered. Mini-Hakkero in hand, she pointed at all directions for signs of attack. There was none.

『It's quiet. Too quiet.』 Robo remarked curtly as he looked around the unusually spacious dark halls of the mansion. There were very few candles to light the way. The only other source of light came from the doorway, but even then night was approaching by the second. He noticed Marisa was sweating a bit nervously.

『It always is.』 Marisa replied, keeping her cool as she made a grin. 『At least five people live here, not including the usual maids.』 she trudged on through the grand hall. 『Keep your eyes open. The chief maid doesn't take well to intruders.』 as she takes the first step into the halls of the mansion, an uneasy feeling strikes her. Robo noticed it as well: they were being watched. From the corner of Robo's eye he noticed a glint, and evaded to the side. Someone, or something, swooped down swooped down with a tiny lance. Upon further inspection, it was a small humanoid figure with stubby limbs and diminutive looks. A shiny pieces of strings were tied around its arms and legs, as if the figure was being controlled by an outside force.

『Dolls!』 Marisa cried, destroying it with a blast from her artifact. She quickly dodged as more identical looking figures lunged at her, eliminating them easily.

『What the-!』 a doll jumped out in front of Robo, glowing with a bright red aura. He quickly rolled out of the way, causing the doll to explode.

『It's a trap!』 Marisa cried as more dolls dropped from the ceiling of the mansion hall. Marisa and Robo retreated, running through the ominous environment with animated dolls hot in their pursuit.

『Who knew dolls can be weaponized?』 Robo said, further suspending his disbelief. He has had too many weird encounters in one day, perhaps much more than he could bear in his usual adventures.

『You never had exploding dolls in the outside world?』 Marisa wondered confusingly.

『Well, yes-I mean no!』 the fake shrine maiden ranted as they ran. 『Stuff like exploding dolls would be impractical in the art of war! Even as improvised explosives no one in their right mind would make an exploding doll. That would be...』

『Inhumane? Cold-blooded? Heinous?』 Marisa guessed

『Yeah, yeah...they all make sense.』 Robo replied, thinking about it.

『But hey, I say if you wanna get rid of someone quick, you can plant one in someone's house and-』

『Let's...not go there, ok?』 Robo interrupted.

『Huh? Why not?』

『Why not? Why do you need to know that?』 a squadron of dolls spawned in front of them, their small jousting lances in phalanx formation in an attempt to stop their advance. Robo dashed ahead of Marisa, sword in hand. With one gigantic swipe, the dolls were cut into two, cotton and straw leaked out of their bodies. It appears that this wooden sword has the sharpness of a fine-tuned kitchen knife. Marisa chuckled tomboyishly at his amazing skill.

『I just wanted to ask. Geez.』 Marisa replied, fuming a little.

『Just...nevermind what I said.』 Robo said, sighing. Marisa stopped at a huge set of double doors. The handles shone a bright bronze, and the wood that comprised of the door itself was made of a dark, sturdy-looking wood.

『This the place?』 Robo asked, gripping the wooden sword tighter on his right hand.

『Yep.』 Marisa said, grinning her usual grin. 『You ready?』

『I'm all for it. Let's go!』 Robo kicked down the door, splitting it wide open. The room within was much spacious than the hall they were in, and much darker, regardless of the coloured stained glass windows illuminating the walls. Rows upon rows of bookshelves littered the sides of the room, and messy piles of nondescript books littered the corners of these rows. The carpet strewn out the entirety of the room remained the same scarlet red as the carpet they saw in the grand entrance hall. Robo and Marisa rushed in when an invisible, unknown force surged through them, knocking the fake shrine maiden off his feet.

『Augh!』 Robo slammed hard into the wall next to the doors. Marisa gasped at the sudden ambush.

『Re-I mean, Robo!』 Marisa cried. Robo struggled with all of his might to overcome the powerful force pushing him, but it was no use. He was pulled from the wall and smashed facedown flat to the ground. Bolts of lightning coursed through his body like an electric conduit, slowly revealing a ghost of an unknown person within Robo's body. Marisa stared in apparent horror. It was the large body of a mechanical man made of shiny steel, with a faceless head decorated with animated cyan eyes and dual symmetrical lines traced on.

『W-who...is that?』 Marisa continued to gaze at the ghost, who sported the exact pained expression as the shrine maiden that lay within it.『_Wait a minute! That's-_』

『His living embodiment.』 answered a monotone voice. She turned around, to see a dishevelled-looking girl. She wore long, straight hair of a royal purple colour with ribbons, a nightcap donned on top, decorated with coloured pieces of cloth and a yellow crescent moon fixed onto it. Her white pyjamas were loose and baggy, adorned with frills. The girl apparently appeared out of thin air, her slippers planted on the ground. On her left hand carried a glowing brown book of magics.

『P-patchouli...』 Marisa uttered, almost breathless. 『What're you doing to him?』

『Intruders of a person's body, whether due to spell or incantation, is like fitting six fingers in a five-fingered glove, so to speak.』 the girl replied, continuing her monotone. 『I see that he is not the real Hakurei Reimu. The field that I have conjured shall reveal all to me, separating intruders from their stolen bodies.』

『But if you do that, he'll...』

『Die?』 another girl appeared out of thin air, next to Patchouli. She had silver hair, which were braided on both sides of her face, and decorated with a frilly band. Her french maid's outfit reached down to her knees. She sported long socks with her black shoes. 『I'm terribly sorry to admit this, but this would be your fault, Marisa, hadn't you stolen that book from the Voile.』

『N-no way...』 Marisa staggered backwards, trembling.

『I'm sorry, Marisa, but I agree as well.』 a third girl appeared standing before the two former girls. Her short blond hair was wrapped in a frilly red band. Her long dress was of a blueberry colour, wrapped around the waist by a similar-coloured sash as her band. Black stockings were revealed under her long black boots. She carried a tightly-wrapped black book in one hand and a golden rings were in most of her fingers.

『Alice...?』 Marisa gazed at her. 『Since when did you side with them?』

『Since you stole that book.』 Alice said, shrugging. 『You went a bit too far this time. I'm afraid Patchy wants that book back.』

『The book doesn't matter now.』 Patchouli said, shaking her head. 『The witch will pay the price with her newfound friend's life.』 Marisa tries to take a step forward, but suddenly a knife drops down, almost stabbing her toe. She looked up at the maid, who didn't stir the whole time.

『You'd be very well well done if you make a move against any of us.』 the maid said, a knife appearing from her finger out of thin air.

『You guys have really done it, ze...』 Marisa said, almost teary-eyed at the situation. 『You guys are putting me in a Catch-22 situation.』

『Indeed.』 Patchouli said. 『What will it be now? Make your choice while the time is ripe.』

"Urghh...M-marisa!" Robo uttered between gritted teeth, his resistance to the field neverending as the pain of being pulled apart is almost overwhelming to bear. Inside, pent-up emotions ever since he woke up in the morning started to build-up. Despite the excruciating pain of being pulled apart from his physical body, he was growing angrier by the minute. Marisa said nothing, too caught up in making a decision, both of which would end in a grave situation.

『Tick-tock, Marisa.』 the maid said temptingly.


	7. Deal

CHAPTER 6: Deal

『Huh? Wait, it's not here...』 Reimu muttered to herself as she looked at every nook and cranny around the small office space on her arms and legs. It was hard to find what she was looking for, as piles of documents were scattered on the thick table's surface, and it didn't help that there were unfamiliar objects on the table as well. She was afraid to touch them; they looked rather scary. Whoever worked here must've been into collecting junk, like Marisa. Besides the portraits on the wall, there were ornaments hanging onto hooks as well. Strange-shaped bones on wooden plaques and a round metal shield with a white star in the middle lie dormant and untouched. She didn't get their purpose. She would've thrown them in the garbage if she needed to.

『If I woke up here this morning, chances are that the person had read it at this very spot. But...』 after resolving that small incident a few hours ago, she immediately left to go look for the perceived book of magics. Since Yukari had given her the wrong one, the former owner of her current body probably found it and mistakenly read it. However, it was just nowhere to be found. The setting sun disappeared from the horizon, and waxing moon approached from the other side of the sky. Time was running out quickly.

『I'm afraid the thing you're looking for is not here.』 said a sinister voice. It came from behind.

『Who's there?』 Reimu gasped, but quickly recognized the voice without turning her head. 『Oh, it's you.』

『Good evening, Reimu.』

『Good evening, Yukari's dog.』

* * *

"Wow. That was quick."

"The new Robo is phenomenal..." Bernard and Koa discussed as they walked down a hall with Jenkins. The two went and spectated a few hours prior when they arrived at the HQ and saw for themselves the action that unfolded as the fake Robo and Jenkins worked together and stopped the laser cannon in time before it fired. A work crew from Tesladyne had been deployed afterwards to work with the city crew to clean up the large mess. The culprit, identified as the notorious Ed Bronson, was known to Tesladyne as a skilled robber and crazy, if not genius, intelligence capable of creating some insane, improbably, yet effective inventions. At this point he was locked up at the high-security prison below the offices at a separate building and is awaiting interrogation.

"Think of the last few times Robo worked with us." Koa began. "He always got caught off-guard by the weirdness of what we're dealing with, and we end up getting caught up with fights while he gets pummelled around by the main boss."

"True. But that doesn't always happen." Bernie replied.

"But the new Robo, he's like another Jenkins, don't you think? And it's a girl too!"

"What makes you think the new Robo's a girl?"

"Uh, dude, isn't it obvious?" Koa gave a dumbfounded look at Bernard.

"You can't be a hundred percent sure about that." Bernard shook his head.

"Pipe down. I hear something." Jenkins stopped. They were near a bend in the hall. At the end of the bend would be Robo's office. He snuck by, hugging the walls until they saw the doorway in the distance, which was open. The two Action Scientists followed suit. Just as Jenkins had perceived, they could hear a conversation nearby. It was unintelligible, and Jenkins could barely make it out. Suddenly, out of the doorway, something colourful and bushy could be seen. It was yellow, with a white tip at the end, and it swung about as if it had a mind of its own.

"Is that..."

"…a tail?" Bernard finished Koa's sentence. Jenkins pressed his ear into the wall, trying to listen to the conversation.

『...mistress is enjoying this, isn't she?』 said Reimu's voice, with a slight snigger. 『I bet she even took the book with her to prolong this farce.』

『Correct.』 a feminine voice replied. It was probably the fox-tailed being. 『The mistress would like to make a deal with you.』

『That's funny. A deal?』 Reimu looked up, but refused to turn and face the figure behind her. 『What makes you think I could trust that two-timing hag mistress of yours?』

『If you don't stop insulting my mistress, I'll kill you right on the spot!』 the feminine voice replied rather cheerily, which was odd.

『People are eavesdropping, you know. You'd best watch what you say.』 Jenkins eyes widened when he heard that, retreating his ear from the wall.

"What're they saying?" Bernard inquired. Jenkins remained silent. Without warning, he sped for the door, hoping to catch the unknown figure talking to the fake Robo. Bernard and Koa followed closely. Jenkins shifted his foot sideways, skidding past and grabbing hold of the doorway, only to meet a flying book soaring towards his face. The force of the book hitting his forehead caused him to stumble. Inside, the fake Robo gasped.

"Ah...!" the robot said. "Gomenasai-ne...!" she stood up, bowing profusely as she apologized and looked down at Jenkins, who recovered quickly from the fall. 『Are you alright?』 she spoke too quickly to be understood.

"I didn't know Robo spoke Japanese." Koa said, astonished.

"Me neither..." Bernard added.

『I'm fine.』 Jenkins replied to Reimu's concerned question, clutching his head.

"Oh my God! Even Jenkins knows Japanese!" Koa started to tremble. "Is this some sorta secret conspiracy that I never knew of?"

"Relax. No one's hiding anything from you." Bernard assured his colleague.

"Huh? You're taking this well."

"Why would I be surprised? Didn't you say he's Jenkins, after all?"

"Uhh..."

『Where'd that-』 Jenkins began.

『You mean the fox-tailed girl?』 Reimu interrupted, glancing at the Action Scientist's face sternly. 『She's nobody, but I have a nagging feeling we should go and check the high-security prison down below.』

『Funny. I was on my way there.』

『What are we waiting for then?』 Reimu strolled off, moving quickly. Jenkins looked on in confusion and followed.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Bernard and Koa went along.

* * *

『I have returned, Mistress.』 the fox-tailed being materialized out of a small hole in the ground. She wore a white, robe-like outfit with a blue flap-like garment similar to Yukari's, inscribed with shapes and symbols. On her head is a two-tailed hat with yellow paper amulets slapped onto its cloth surface. On her back was a vibrant set of nine yellow tails, brushed to perfection. Her mistress reclined on a strangely-shaped portal with ribbons on the ends, her parasol out to shield her fair skin from the rising moon's rays.

『What did the shrine maiden say?』 Yukari inquired.

『She refuses to take your offer.』 the being replied politely. 『As predicted, her intuition guides her into our trap.』

『Wonderful, Ran.』 Yukari applauded her shikigami. 『I've been wanting to get rid of that slimy old pawn of ours.』

『That old fart? He was dreaded fifty years ago.』 Ran added.

『Did you think it was incredibly evil of me to give a dying old man such a false hope?』 Yukari asked.

『No. You did the right thing, mistress.』 Ran bowed before her mistress. 『The old man was on his last legs. Even if it was false hope, at least he will pass on doing what he loved doing best.』

From behind her closed hand-fan, Yukari laughed sinisterly.

『I have been waiting for this moment.』 Yukari said to herself. 『The shrine maiden will mark as my first successful test subject in my book of magics. As the lab rat squirms, it shall be fate that will bring about its demise...』 the youkai's laugh rang across the blooming night sky.

* * *

Down in the lower levels of the Tesladyne complex, a number of armoured personnel stood guard at a large steel gate, thick enough to withstand multiple rocket blasts. Reimu and Jenkins appeared from the stairs going down the dim, cold, dungeon-like area, with Bernard and Koa far behind.

"Let us in." Jenkins commanded. The guard moved away quickly, and the gate swung open in an instant. Reimu was unfazed by this and proceeded. Before the two other Action Scientists could enter, the gate slammed shut.

"Umm...we're with them." Koa said to the guards.

"You don't have the proper clearance to enter this area." said one of the armoured guards.

"He's right, you know." Bernard added.

"Why were we following them again?" Koa looked at Bernard, confused.

"Beats me. We might as well wait for them." Bernard shrugged.

『My miko senses are tingling fast.』 Reimu said as they marched through the cells. 『There's a strange presence within the area.』

『I don't feel a thing.』 Jenkins replied. 『Either your powers are actually useful, or we're running into a-』

"Aaaah...!" an unknown force took ahold of Reimu's body, jolting her with powerful electricity. She fell to one knee, struggling to stand.

『Trap.』 Jenkins finished his sentence, darting his gaze around the room. A faint cackle echoed throughout, barely audible. A thin, lanky figure wearing an orange jumpsuit and white, frazzled hair appeared from the darkness beyond. On his left hand was a glowing silver cube, emanating a strange blie light.

"It appears that the purple devil was correct." it was the scientist from earlier in the day, tittering like a madman. "This cube will indeed finally subdue that accursed atomic robot."

『T-that cube...is immobilizing me. Destroy it!』 Reimu implored, writhing in pain.

『You didn't have to tell me that to believe it.』 Jenkins dashed, his bayonet in hand.

"Ah-ha!" the mad scientist held the cube before him. On its surface a bolt of lightning gathered and shot out towards the Action Scientist. He dodged quickly by sliding with one foot out, rising up again to boot off the cube from his hand.

"Augh!" the kick was strong enough to hurt his hand, causing him to let go. The cube spun about in midair, and landed on the ground. Jenkins spun around the dazed criminal and went to retrieve the cube, but in a sudden stroke of surprise, the cube deformed and melted into the ground. The floor, walls, and ceiling were soon covered with jolts of lightning. As strange as it is, it did not seem to affect Jenkins negatively, but in the distance, within Robo slowly appeared a ghost of a teenaged girl amidst the bolts. She had a smooth, petite face with brown eyes and short black hair, with red ribbons adorning her locks. The ghost took on a humanoid shape, but was almost formless and translucent. She had a closely-similar pained expression as the robot's, but appeared in more vivid detail as to the amount of pain she was tolerating.

『Dammit...』 the girl said, frightened. Her voice echoed along with the voice of the robot whose body she was inhabiting. 『I'm being pried off from this body!』

"Just as the devil said..." the mad scientist in slight ecstacy. "An intruder had taken over Atomic Robo's body. With the cube I'll be able to finish him off once and for all!"

『Shut up, you.』 Jenkins went up to the man and squeezed the pressure points at the sides of his neck.

"Urkk...!" the mad scientist felt faint and dropped to the ground, subduing him.

『Well, now what?』 Jenkins thought aloud calmly.

『Good question.』 another voice pierced through the room. It was the voice of the fox-tailed being, who reappeared before him. 『What are you gonna do next?』

『It's official. This has become a video game.』 Jenkins retreated a few steps cautiously as he saw the strange being in the flesh: an anthromorphic nine-tailed fox with a human face and white robes, covered with a decorated blue flap that went over it. On her head was a two-tassled hat with strange paper charms attached to the white cloth.

『Your friend over there is suffering.』 the fox-being began. 『I'm gonna ask you to make a deal with my mistress.』

『She's lying! There is no deal!』 Reimu cried.

『What's the deal?』 Jenkins asked, grasping his bayonet ever tighter and somehow ignoring Reimu.

『My mistress wishes to prolong the shrine maiden's duration inside that body.』 the fox-being nodded. 『It is the only way to save her now. The cube will not cease function unless you make this deal. The consequences are fatal if you don't concur.』

『Don't listen to her!』 the shrine maiden continued to struggle as she protested.

『Hmm...』 he continued to ignore Reimu, giving the deal some thought. 『It wouldn't be a deal if you've got the upper hand in negotiation now, wouldn't it?』

『Exactly.』 the fox gave him a sudden boot to the face, sending the Action Scientist sprawling backwards along the cold, hard floor.

『Pretty sly, for a fox...』 Jenkins did a reverse worm-like maneuver, the fingertips of his hands gripping the floor as he kicked upwards, recovering from the fall quickly. He took out his pistol in quick-draw fashion, shooting at his attacker, but strangely, the bullets mysteriously grazed past her as she barely moves an inch. He was aiming at point-blank range at her chest. Without warning, the fox-being zoomed up to his face. In reaction, Jenkins retreated with a slight hop, taking a defensive stance.

『And cheap, too.』 Jenkins added to his last comment with a smug smile.

『Ran, that's enough.』 said a calm voice, coming from nowhere as usual.

『Understood, mistress.』 the fox-being promptly complied, vanishing without a trace once more. What came soon after was a strangely-shaped portal opening up just inches from Jenkins's feet. A tall, blond-haired woman in a bright, frilled dress appeared ascending from the portal, carrying a ridiculously-large parasol. In one swift movement, she grasped the Action Scientist's neck, glaring murderously.

『Boo.』 she proclaimed with a sunny disposition.

『Yukari...』 Reimu said with gritted teeth, still immobilized by the unknown cube.

『Well...this...is very mortifying...』 Jenkins remarked amidst gasps. The strange woman grinned, laughing a sinister laugh.

『You know I have the upper hand here.』 Yukari stated, smiling albeit speaking with gritted teeth. 『But unless you're going to say yes to the deal, my little book of magics won't work.』 she grasped ever tighter.

『What...makes you think I'd say yes...?』 Jenkins replied, his breath running out quickly.

『If you're thinking about that silly exhibition, I'm afraid you will have to postpone that. My needs come first.』

『You selfish-Agh!』 lightning surged more intensely as the purple devil willed, silencing the shrine maiden and paralyzing her entirely.

『The master silences the howling dog.』 Yukari turned to Reimu, then facing Jenkins. 『Do you see what I am doing to your friend? The cube that my pawn had been carrying is another invention of mine, created by the kappa. If you don't think fast, her living embodiment is going to fly away from that body and die in a matter of seconds. Make your choice now.』

『Your pawn...was that guy, huh?』 Jenkins choked out. 『I'm...guessing...you're the one...who also gave him the...money...to build that...thing?』

『A wise deduction.』 Yukari said, laughing silently. 『The man was penniless after all. I just wanted to give him a little...push, to put it in a way. He was quite ambitious anyway.』 she slammed the vulnerable Action Scientist to a nearby wall. Jenkins winced. 『Don't change the subject. Will you or will you not prolong Reimu's duration inside that robot body? It's the only way to save her now.』

『I think...I'm gonna...have...to...refuse.』 he continued to become resilient, even in the face of imminent death.

『Insolence.』 the youkai's grip began to surge with electricity. Her glare became more intense as the Action Scientist began to lose consciousness.

『No!』 Reimu cried helplessly. She tried to shut her eyes, but as she did so, something began to build up within her. It was a very overcoming feeling of power.

* * *

Author's Note:

I apologize for the sporadic updates, but it may take some days to get last few chapters out.

Apologies if you see some spelling and grammar mistakes in prior chapters. I really need to focus on fixing some typos before I actually publish them.

Feel free to comment on what is written so far.


	8. Climax at the Voile!

CHAPTER 7: Climax at the Voile

『Urgh...I don't know what to do...』 Marisa's legs began to weaken, unsure of what to do as Robo's life was at stake. Behind her, Robo began to breathe heavily, helpless, but an overcoming feeling of lividness built its way up within him. Various thoughts raced in his mind. Not only was he stuck in Tesladyne just to do paperwork, but someone had gone and switched bodies with him. Everything in Gensokyo is weird, he thought intensely, and he was sick of it all, and now this little girl, whom he doesn't even know, is trying to kill him then and there. Was there something he didn't know that happened prior to this incident? It didn't matter. He was pissed off beyond his limits.

『That's it!』 he cried. His intensely irate voice echoed throughout the entire library, piercing the silence with the mere shrill decibels of his voice. The four girls turned to face him as he caught their attention. 『I've had it with this place!』 he struggled to get up with what strength he had left as the strange feeling started to overflow. The four gasped at once at what they saw.

『He's breaking through the field!』 Alice said, her voice sounding evidently fearful. 『Patchouli!』

『Impossible!』 Patchouli trembled. 『No one's supposed to be able to break through my conjurations!』

『No, it's not him.』 the maid gazed at the long, curved stick that the fake shrine maiden carried. 『The wooden sword! It's glowing a ghostly aura!』 her blue, docile eyes became a scarlet-hued red.

『Huh?』 Marisa gasped. The lightning surged ever intensely and flashed, blinding everyone for a couple of seconds. When they came to, they can see the imprisoned shrine maiden, standing, albeit hunched over, gripping the wooden sword on his right hand. Lightning from the invisible field continued to surge around him, but he was covered in a rising red aura, made of short threads of light. Robo continued to breathe as if heavily exhausted. He began to limp towards them, his legs shuffled one after another sluggishly on the blood-red carpet.

『Stay down!』 the maid threw a handful of knives at point blank range. In retaliation, Robo swung his wooden sword in one wide arc, deflecting them without so much as a scratch on the sword's surface. He continued to shuffle forward. The maid retreated, flipping backwards as Alice appeared from behind her. With a swipe of her fingers, an army of lance-wielding dolls came down at him in full force, coming down as a large clump. The visible aura within Robo grew brighter, and the clump instantly shredded apart into cotton and straw. Alice gasped in absolute terror as Robo closed in on her. Trembling, her legs weighed her down as Robo grasped at her dress collar, lifting her a few inches off the ground with untold amounts of strength. She felt the bottom of her throat tighten uncomfortably. In full view, the silhouette of the robot did exactly as the body of the shrine maiden did, as Robo raised his arm higher and threw the defenseless puppeteer off the side as if she was a useless toy.

"Augh! Ugh!" Alice fell hard on the floor, hitting a bookshelf in the process.

"...I see." Patchouli diagnosed in her monotone voice, slightly more tense.

『Huh?』 Marisa uttered in confusion, gazing at the magician.

『The Boundary-Cutting Sword.』 Patchouli explained monotonously. 『It amplifies the burning rage of its wielder when brandished, and can cut with the power of a dimensional portal. It rivals even the swords of the half-ghost.』

『Vile monster! Begone!』 the maid raced after Robo, vanishing into thin air, but reappearing face-to-face with the limping creature. A knife in both hands, she proceeded in short-range combat, swinging this way and that with seemingly unmatched speed and dexterity. With graceful skill, the fake shrine maiden blocked each swing with the strange wooden sword. The sharp knives refused to make a dent on the fragile weapon.

『You little pest!』 Robo threw a elbow swing at the young woman's wrist.

"Augh!" the force of the blow was very strong, disarming her and leaving her with only one knife. Quickly, her eyes shone a bright red. A distorted aura expelled from her body, discolouring the room and freezing the expanse as time stood still. In front of the maid was Robo, frozen in time. She paused, smiling smugly as she proceeded to place a generous amount of knives in midair with a few swipes of her arms. To her sudden shock, a crack started to appear in between the border between flow and frozen, the small fissures trailing off around her like floes of thin ice. The frozen space-time broke off like shards of glass, and the fake shrine maiden made his way through the jagged gap and crashed through the frozen knives as if wearing armour.

『I-impossible!』 the maid stammered, falling backwards. Breathing heavily, the shrine maiden towered over her. Seizing her, he threw her across the frozen space, shattering the entire expanse. With whatever left of her animal cunning, the maid recovered in midair and landed on her feet.

『What are you going to do now?』 Patchouli inquired as both Robo and the maid fought. The robot seemed never to tire, contrary to her physical indications of exhaustion and poor health. Marisa hid her face. Her mouth curled on the sides as she made her decision, taking out her Mini-Hakkero.

『I'll fight. He's not gonna give up without one, so why can't I?』 the witch said, grinning.

『Very well.』 the magician conjured her book of spells, opening it as it shone a radiant light. Raising her fingertips, the power of moonlight shone as she made a trail in the air.

『Silent Selena!』 pillars of light shone, casting down over Marisa's head. Quickly summoning her broom from seemingly out of nowhere, Marisa flew away as the rays of light cast down, raining destruction from the heavens. Soaring overhead the rows of bookshelves in the library, she could see the silver-haired maid and Robo duking it out from the distance.

『Succumb to the field, accursed demon!』 the maid cried out in desparation as she hurled one knife after the other towards her attacker.

『Demon? How very flattering!』 Robo continued to dodge and block, hell-bent on throwing all of his rage down on her.

『Private Square!』 time froze once more. In one quick moment, the maid jumped back and threw a blade with supreme accuracy, nailing the fake shrine maiden straight on his right shoulder.

"Hurgh...!" the knife dug itself within, piercing through the weak flesh. Robo reeled back, dropping his wooden sword. He kneeled down as the pain almost made him tear up. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, clutching at his hurt arm, its fingers curling into a claw.

『Y'know...I'm not screwing around...』 retreating his still-moving arm, he clutched at the handle of the knife. 『When I do something like this!』 with one quick motion, he took it out and dropped it, picking up his sword once more with his remaining able arm.

『St. Elmo's Pillar!』 a large pillar of fire swooped down like a claymore over Marisa. She did a barrel roll to the right, avoiding it, but the pillar came down, making a searing trail through the bookshelves in Robo's line of range. The fake shrine maiden rolled to the right and leapt, soaring after the maid as the sword continued to absorb his burning emotions. The maid eventually stopped running away and, replenishing her knives, crossed blades with the ghostly shrine maiden one more time.

『I'm not screwing around either!』 Marisa cried. From her pockets she pulled out a dusty spellcard and raised it into the air.

『Orrery's Sun!』 the card flashed as she declared loudly, and seemingly out of nowhere, four jeweled, coloured orbs encircled her in a defensive maneuver. In retaliation, the baggy-clothed magician summoned pillars of moonlight once more, launching it at the witch with startling speed and accuracy. In one quick motion, she rolled and grazed past it as the light almost seared through her clothes. The jeweled modules counterattacked with a plethora of lasers and colourful patterns, scattering the field. It did more or less in terms of assistance to Robo. Both he and the maid had to avoid her stray shots as they continued to cross blades, parrying and blocking each other's attacks. Taking a breath, the maid passed through the barrage and kicked the shrine maiden in the gut, forcing her back. Holding in the massive uncomfortable feeling that followed, Robo backsaulted, still in midair and with his free arm, slashed at the air. The sword glowed momentarily, cutting through the boundary between stillness and movement as the air culminated in a sonic boom, eliminating the stray patterns and sent straight after her adversary. The maid avoided the attack without much of an effort.

"H-how did I do that...?" Robo gazed blankly at what he just did, but shook his head, preferring to suspend his disbelief as the battle waged on. He landed on another bookshelf and leapt off, crossing blades with the maid once more.

『Your sword style. What is it?』 the maid asked hastily.

『Don't have one.』 the robot bluffed. 『It's all instinct.』

『Fool.』 she made a cross mark as she brought her arms to the sides of her head, brandishing knives in between each of her ten fingers, preparing to throw. 『Certainly you've trained under someone. No swordsman worth his mettle should be able to block and parry with such skill!』

『Like I'd tell you the truth, you crazy silver-haired witch!』 Robo charged.

『Ahahahah...as if I'm even interested.』 in one swift movement, a flurry of knives flew past with bright glowing auras, piercing through Robo's clothing and outer flesh. Regardless of the small wounds inflicted, he made a downward cut, but was blocked with equal strength by her opponent and the shiv on her right hand.

『How long are you going to keep blocking me?』 Robo inquired frustratingly. 『Aren't you the least bit exhausted?』

『Hmph...now that you mention it.』 she retreated her blade, unbalancing Robo's swing, causing him to totter forward and stumble. She spun and booted Robo on the forehead.

"Ugh!"

『No. I'm not.』 she rushed towards the fake shrine maiden, preparing to stab him on his exposed chest.

"Gotcha!" he did another backsault, his feet landing on a nearby bookshelf out of a million of them in the room and kicked off, speeding towards the startled maid.

"Aaagh!" with the exposed end of his blade, he made a curving motion as he went past her. The cut went through the side of her chest, piercing through her clothing and skin.

『Sakuya!』 Patchouli cried from the distance as she saw the chief maid of the mansion fall from the air as the fake shrine maiden passed through her. 『You'll pay for that!』 she pantomimed firing a bow, pooling from her powers of wood and fire as a flaming arrow conjured and went swiftly across the room where Robo was. He caught glimpse of the arrow and held his sword high to block it, but the arrow was propelled by a powerful force, exploding before him and sending him crashing to a nearby wall.

『You cheapshot!』 with a desperate battle cry, Marisa went after her opponent, ordering her modules to fire unceasingly at the magician. Lasers and pellets littered the room and struck the walls, melting holes through the stained glass windows and charring bits of brick off, but much to her surprise, Patchouli grazed past and, her fingertip gleaming with the power of light, conjured a bolt of lightning, throwing the witch off her broom.

『You've forgotten that I manipulate the elements, have you not?』 the magician said. 『Perhaps I shall finally demonstrate to you that power is obsolete in curtain fire!』

『Quit it with the old people talk, you hag!』 momentarily, she summoned her broom to follow her as she fell. The heels of her shoes caught with the round surface of the magic transport and she rode off as if it was a skateboard. Summoning her modules, she went out of her way to order another shooting frenzy straight at Patchouli once again.

『The battle ends now! Royal Flare!』 without so much as moving, Patchouli raised a palm into the air, summoning a magic circle as bright as the sun. At a tip at its very center, threads of light coalesced in a humongous beam, searing the room with bright white thermal energy. The beam zoomed past loudly with an almost startling speed, eradicating the stream of bullets and lasers and homing straight for Marisa.

『Watch out!』 Robo cried. Before the witch knew it, he was right in front of her, his body spread out to foolishly block the attack, which was twice bigger than him. Before Marisa could open her mouth to scream, the laser collided in a vibrant display of orange. Marisa twitched and hid her face with her arms, but slowly, she retracted them and saw the laser bend around the two of them. On Robo's unhurt arm was a card. He summoned a barrier.

『How'd you-!』

『Don't ask.』 Robo interrupted loudly. 『I just found this in my pocket, ok?』

『Robo...』

『Such impertinence!』 Patchouli cried. 『Your sword may have saved you, but an abomination like you will pay for injuring my maid!』

『_Your_ maid?』 Robo raised an eyebrow.

『Die!』 the laser increased in size, speed, and magnitude, causing the entire library to rumble before its destructive power. Robo began to feel the card start to crumble into dust, and with it, the barrier began to sport cracks.

『Y'got a counterattack we can use?』 Robo shouted amidst the noise the laser was making.

『I've only got one last card!』 Marisa yelled back. 『But it's really strong, ze! I need a lot of room!』

『Forget space!』 the fake shrine maiden demanded. 『We'll get none of that once this thing breaks! Use it now!』

Hesitant, Marisa took out her last spellcard with a slightly trembling left hand. Gripping tightly at her Mini-Hakkero, she placed the card before the tip of its gem-end, causing it to assimilate the card and begin casting the spell.

She aimed against the beam, which further penetrated the barrier as more cracks began to pour on its clear surface. Consequently, a small string of rainbow light aimed at Robo's head, preparing to expand.

『Pull out at the count of three!』 Marisa cried.

『Got it!』 the laser started to bore holes into the cracked barrier.

『One...』 a shrill sound could be heard, emanating from the white octagonal device. Stray streams of the orange beam began to spew.

『Two...』 the barrier started to give way. Rainbow-streamed circles hovered around Marisa's device. The rainbow beam started to solidify.

『Three! Final Spaaaark!』 as she said the final word, Robo pulled out just as the invisible spherical barrier shattered into pieces. Before the laser could collide with Marisa, the beam instantly grew ten times its original size, flooding the entire library with even brighter light of the seven hues. It crashed into the magician's Royal Flare, causing a large explosion of energy as both beams resisted against one another. The weight of the Mini-Hakkero got heavier for Marisa, who struggled to keep it steady from her broom. On the other side, Patchouli forced the spell to intensify with the breadth of her power, however, she started to feel dizzy and her breath became rapid and noisy. The rainbow beam was too powerful, and eventually overpowered the puny flare wave, edging closer and closer.

"Kyaaaaah!" The magician's spell withdrew as the beam threw her off and she bathed in the seven colours of light, falling from the air and into the ground. The beam weakened and disappeared, and the shrill humming ceased. The lightning that crackled around Robo as he fought started to fade, and his body gradually felt lighter as the field around him vanished. All was quiet.

"Bravo..." a distant sound could be heard. Far above the library floor was a balcony, with an ornate marble railing. A young lady stood there, clapping. She donned a slightly scarlet hued dress along with a matching mob cap. Her blood red eyes pierced the damaged, dimmed expanse that was once a library. On her back sprouted a pair of long, bat-like wings.

『Dammit...why now?』 Marisa muttered under her breath.

『You two have outdone yourselves.』 the young lady said, exposing her fangs as she spoke. 『Not only did you injure my maid and defeat my tutor, but you've also destroyed my library. And it's all thanks to that red-white impostor.』

『Your "tutor" tried to kill me.』 Robo said. 『What makes you think I'm not gonna go after you next?』

『Robo, please.』 Marisa gripped onto his shoulder in an attempt to restrain him.

『She's a vampire. She needs to die.』

『Moron, that's enough!』 the witch gave a hard slap across his face. The impact caused Robo to stagger backwards as he held onto the side of his face. It stung pretty badly, causing the burning aura within him to fade and his inner body to disappear. He fell silent.

『Don't blame him, Marisa.』 the young lady said, smirking. 『The sword he's holding contains the spirit of a bloodthirsty warrior. Anyone wielding it can be susceptible to blinding rage and violence.』

『Right...』 Marisa sighed. 『We've defeated Patchouli, Alice, and Sakuya...now what?』

『You want to find a way to reverse the spell?』 the vampire queried curiously.

『Remilia...how did you-?』

『I'd hate to be the snitch out of this whole plot, but Yukari told us her motives prior to even setting them in motion.』 Remilia began. 『Basically, she wanted a guinea pig. A strong one, nonetheless, to test the magics she wrote. You do know that she isn't the type to write books on a whim, right? So she asked for Alice and Patchouli's help.』

『It's not like we wanted to do this either...』 Patchouli's voice rang, coughing. From the corner of their eye, they could see the injured puppeteer slinging the magician arm over her shoulder.

『That boundary hag also spilled tea on my nicest outfit since I didn't agree with her the first time...what nerve!』

『Can we cut to the chase, please?』 Robo asked, annoyed.

『Geez, you're more impatient than the real red-white.』 Remilia scoffed. 『Anyways, she picked you and Reimu as her targets. Why did she choose you? Oh, it's 'cause she saw your face on a magazine once in Kourindou.』

『You mean this?』 Robo took out the glossy bound paper he pocketed from the shrine that morning. Remilia gasped as she gazed at the cover from afar.

『That's exactly the one! My, we're quite hot on the trail now.』 she said, smirking a little.

『But why the hell, exactly, did she choose both of them?』 Marisa asked, confused.

『Think of it this way.』 the magician cleared her throat. 『She wants to test Reimu, but she didn't want to end up killing her here, so she found that abomination you're with now and used the transmigration spell so she can do what she wants to Reimu outside of Gensokyo, while there's someone else to take her place.』

『Hey, being called an abomination is really flattering and all, but being forced to swap bodies just for some whimsical experiment was the most inconvenient thing that ever happened to me.』 the robot remarked in defense.

『Humph...you dabble with the strangest things, yet I continue to remain skeptical at how a being made up of lifeless machinery like you could take on an almost human likeness. It goes against all I believed about the Laws of Creation!』

『Don't worry. Every religious kook I've met said the same things you did.』 Robo said.

『Well then...』 Remilia flapped her wings, gliding across the balustrad onto the ground floor. 『Let's not waste any more time. You've got at least an hour before midnight. Patchouli?』

『I'll summon a dimensional portal so you could face Yukari.』 the magician explained, sighing disdainfully. 『You will need to use your sword to cut through the barrier within so you can make it to your destination. Chances are Reimu'll be already fighting her.』

『I'm coming with him.』 Marisa said, slightly animated.

『I'm afraid the portal can only hold one person.』 Patchouli shook her head.

『But I'm worried about Reimu, ze!』

『If she's stuck in my body, she just might last longer.』 Robo said. 『I know how my own body works. Doesn't matter if it's rockets or magic.』

『I just hope...you're correct on that one.』 Marisa said, withdrawing her defensiveness.

『Let's go. Time's wasting!』 Robo gave a thumbs-up at Patchouli, who finally caught enough of her strength back to stand on her own. She faced her palms forward and chanted quietly as her fingertips began to glow with the seven elements, representing the seven days of the week.

『We've only just met today, but you're leaving now?』 the witched gazed at the fake shrine maiden's eyes, as if suddenly longing for something. The battle somehow left her exhausted, and she'd been wavering in and out of her tomboyish exterior.

『W-where did that come from?』 Robo looked at Marisa, perplexed by such a line to come out of her mouth. Even the denziens of the mansion looked at her confusingly.

『You're such a jerk, you know that?』 Marisa cried angrily. 『Like all of the other outsiders that came here in the past few years...they come and go too quickly!』

"H-hey..." surprised by her sudden reaction, Robo slowly placed a hand on the distressed girl's shoulder, somewhat calming her. 『Maybe...if I'm not too busy, I could drop by and say hello sometime. Umm...to be honest, we did make a great team.』

『That would be great, ze.』 Marisa got ahold of his hand and clasped it in between hers, hesitant, but smiling sincerely. 『But I think you've already forgotten that Gensokyo...never existed.』

『W-what...?』 Robo looked around the library as his vision started to brighten. Everyone and everything around him started to fade into white as Patchouli's spell began to take form. Marisa was just right in front of him, but over time, it felt like she and everyone else around him felt far away.

『I'm sorry, but I guess your dream's about to end, ze...』 the witch's voice rang one last time as she faded away in the brightness.


	9. Evening Star

CHAPTER 8: Evening Star

『N-NO!』 Reimu cried. A huge wave of energy surged throughout the entire isolated prison hall, going beyond its walls. At the prison gate, Koa, Bernard, and the guards felt a great, rumbling disturbance, causing them to open the door to check out what was going on. Back inside, the boundary youkai sensed a tremendous disturbance, and dropped the dying Jenkins, turning to face the shrine maiden. The Action Scientist fell to the ground with a loud thud, coughing and gasping for air.

"What's going on?"

"What in the name of-?" the two guards and the Action Scientists made their way into the room, encountering the absurdly-dressed woman as well as the fake robot. A faint aura could be felt emanating from Reimu's body as she stood there, her legs barely hauling all her heavy weight. The ghost of her living embodiment; a young girl with brown eyes and dark hair tied in a red ribbon, remained visible for all in the room to see. On her right arm held the cube, which was earlier held by the mad scientist, who remained unconscious throughout.

"W-who is that?" one of the guards whispered in slight confusion.

"That must be-"

"-the fake Robo." Koa finished Bernard's sentence. "She looks cute."

"This isn't the time to talk about how cute she is, man." Bernard said, his forehead arched in seriousness.

"Wait a sec, you guys are telling me that this Robo isn't our Robo?" the second guard looked at the other three, scratching his stubbled cheek. His obvious question was quickly ignored, leaving him hanging.

『Ah, is this a side effect I see?』 Yukari said, slightly surprised, but by no means shocked by the situation, instead laughing sinisterly. 『What a discovery. Ran, do you have all this written down?』

『Yes, mistress.』 the fox-tailed shikigami appeared from the shadows once more, but with a small brush and scroll on both hands.

『This has gone far enough!』 Reimu screamed, pointing a menacing metal finger at the woman before her. 『Stop this experiment right now, or I'm forced to exterminate you!』 with these words, she crushed the cube with her other robotic arm, as if it were but a mere fragile trinket. As the pieces touched the ground, they mysteriously dissolved into dust.

『Tut, tut. Your temper's rising.』 Yukari chided with a waving finger, refusing to take the situation seriously. 『You need to cool down.』

Reimu's rage knew no bounds. With an irate battle cry, she charged at the gap youkai, an arm drawn back curling into a fist that would meet her smirking face. As she thrust her fist forward, it met an invisible barrier and stopped. The sudden collision forced her back, and she was able to land on her boot heels. Following this sudden defensive threat, the two guards, Bernard, and Koa, took out their guns and aimed at the woman.

『Tell them not to shoot!』 Reimu demanded to Jenkins, who promptly relayed the message. The four quickly put down their weapons. Her arms clenched angrily.

『Ran?』 Yukari ordered her shikigami.

『Yes, my mistress?』 Ran replied, putting away the brush and scroll.

『Please give these fabulous gentlemen and that hot-headed young lady some complementary distractions.』 her mistress said. 『Until then, I will be waiting at the rooftop.』

『Understood, mistress.』 with that said, the purple devil vanished through a portal. The shikigami smiled at them and spun around. Off the side of the room, Jenkins got ahold of his bearings and stood up.

"You alright?" Koa asked the commando from a distance.

"I feel amazing." he replied in his usual, uninterested voice.

『I'm not gonna be held responsible if these guys get killed in a middle of a barrage!』 Reimu said.

『Hey, if you're willing to listen, I have a plan.』 Jenkins replied, turning to the four personnel. "You four, box formation, distract the fox. Me and Reimu here'll go around and fly up the prison block straight out of the island."

"Got it." the two guards and Action Scientists ran and formed a box around the hovering shikigami.

『Outsiders are such foolish creatures.』 Ran scoffed, beaming all the more. 『It appears that they want to play a game with us.』

『You're in the outside world, you know.』 Reimu said. 『Acting holier-than-thou in front of their kind just shows how much of an idiot you are.』 from between her fingers appeared a handful of inscribed business cards.

『Hah! Me? An idiot? You're supposed to be the Hakurei shrine maiden.』 Ran started to glow a ghostly aura, which only Reimu could see. 『All I see is just a hulking pile of talking steel.』

『Yeah?』 Reimu took a stance. 『Well, this pile of talking steel's gonna give you a quick exorcism!』 simultaneously, the shrine maiden and the fox took quick strides, culminating in a sudden burst of hellish, colourful bullets. It overwhelmed the box formation, and the four people, including Jenkins, scattered and headed for cover in the open cells. Sphere cancelled sphere, and ofuda cancelled ofuda in a large stream of red, purple, and yellow entrophy. It was a beautiful sight to behold, if not for the gravity of the situation. The two opponents spun and dodged gracefully in the air with a rather lazy, but serious air, making it look as if they've done this many times before. The four looked on in astonishment and awe.

"Well, that was a flop." Bernard quipped, his gun raised. "Now what?"

"Has Robo...always moved like that?" the second guard questioned.

"This is implausible in so many levels..." the other commented.

"Who knew Robo could be such an accomplished gymnast?" Koa quipped with a grin.

"Please stop talking." Bernard said, watching closely.

"Yaagh!" Reimu threw an electric-blue barrier from an open palm in order to throw off the shikigami. Ran quickly noticed this at the corner of her eye and propelled herself back to avoid contact, immediately pulling out a thick card from her dress pocket.

『Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser!』 the shikigami declared. A straight line of spheres trailed from behind her towards Reimu, warping and expelling dense beams of orange and blue light left and right. Quickly following it was a burst of radiant energy going straight for the shrine maiden.

『Skipping to lasers already?』 the shrine maiden quipped in a dull manner. She spun in the air, avoiding the burst stream and swerving in and out head-first through the laser path. She flipped over, and sent a heel straight for Ran's face. It was quickly blocked by an invisible barrier, flashing as her boot made contact, forcing the maiden back once again.

『That kick should've broken through your defenses!』

『My mistress created a barrier out of the bookgirl and the puppeteer's combined magics.』 Ran said mirthfully. 『It leaves yet to be penetrated!』

『That so? I knew that boundary hag couldn't make a book on her own.』

『You insulted my mistress again!』 Ran's usual sunny demeanor suddenly morphed into blind rage, veins exposed on the once smooth surface of her face. She rushed after the fake robot and flipped over, spinning like a ball with a yellow streamer attached. The force of the hit forced back the shrine maiden further. Reimu struggled to stabilize herself. Meanwhile, from his cover, Jenkins got out of his pillar, carrying a large multi-purpose launcher; a similar gun like the one he used before, but even larger and more pronounced in terms of its artillery.

"Holy crap! He hid that in there?" the first guard exclaimed.

"N-no way! I never saw a secret compartment anywhere in the cells..." the second guard said, stuttering a little at the absurdity of it all. Without hesitation, the Action Scientist fired an electrifying laser straight towards the spinning shikigami. The beam expanded and lit the room brightly, but the shikigami continued to spin against the beam, causing the expelled energies to scatter as the impenetrable barrier continued to protect her, as if she was a rock rising against a raging waterfall. With a loud battle cry, the shrine maiden leapt into the air once more, and landed a heavy foot against the distracted fox, driving her further into the searing laser. In an unexpected turn of events, the barrier broke into shards of glass from the force of the laser beam. Reimu jumped away, and Ran was seared by the beam, forcing her back, retracting from her curled position and landing on the ground with one knee.

『A cheap trick...』 Ran muttered, panting. 『From a filthy outsider human, no less!』

『You're acting too high and mighty.』 Jenkins said. 『How 'bout I put you in place with another shot?』 his launcher started to gather energy. Ran refused to take another chance and sped towards the Action Scientist. With the use of her powers, Reimu intercepted the shikigami's course immediately, shooting a palm out with heavy force.

『Yin-Yang Sanctifier Orb!』 a burst of holy light expanded into a sphere from the center of her palm, overcoming the fox-tailed shikigami. The force of the light not only threw her back, but blinded her. The Action Scientist ceased charging.

『Nice ruse you pulled there.』 Reimu said. 『Now let's chase after the culprit!』

『Agreed.』 Jenkins followed Reimu as they begin to run through the hall into the main prison block.

"All yours." he told the four as he ran. The two guards and the Action Scientists slowly got out of their hiding places to check on the immobilized shikigami, who laid face-down on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Y-you sure it's alright?" the second guard stuttered, seemingly afraid to come near the shikigami.

"Quit being such a wimp and help me out here." the first guard began to haul her by her shoulders, motioning towards Koa and Bernard. "You two. Pick her up by the legs...hrrg, she's damn heavy."

Into the main prison block, Reimu didn't hesitate to fly straight up, grabbing Jenkins by the hand, his other arm holding the launcher. The fact that a half-ton robot soared weightlessly in the air caught the attention of multiple cellmates, both mutations and science criminals, staring in dumbfounded stupidity. As the two flew upwards to the open-air ceiling of the block, a sinister laugh echoed throughout.

『Ahahahahahah...!』 Yukari cackled, further annoying the fake robot. 『Splendid work! I knew you wouldn't disappoint me.』

『When I find you,』 Reimu started. 『I'm gonna send your ass straight back to Gensokyo, and I'm gonna give you a beating you're gonna regret for the rest of your life!』

『Harsh words...for such a lazy shrine maiden.』 she reappeared once more from her portal a few metres ahead of her, spinning about her parasol. With a giant swing of her metal arm, Reimu catapulted Jenkins to a nearby ledge. The shrine maiden quickly spammed multiple volleys of ofuda at Yukari. In turn, the purple devil merely chuckled at the measly display of prowess and spun her way headfirst through the sharp edges of the cards, unscathed. Immediately, she pulled out a spellcard of her own design.

『Curse of Dreams and Reality!』 from her parasol, she launched multiple orbs of light, dispersing in opposite directions. They exploded in a ghastly pattern of green and white. As the green bullets tessellated, the white pellets homed towards Reimu's vicinity. What the shrine maiden lacked in power, she excelled in mobility as she effortlessly pirouettes through the mind-numbing barrage and into open space once more. The battle was merely beginning. Reimu calls within her divine power, raising her metal palms towards her opponent.

『Persuasion Needle!』 translucent red needles expelled in large numbers, going around a wide arc before hitting Yukari. In turn, the youkai defended herself with a dim, ultraviolet barrier. The needles clanged harmlessly and vanished.

『Pity, pity...』 Yukari said teasingly. 『Not being able to give it your all because your current body cannot store enough spiritual energy. I suppose this puts me at the highest advantage.』

『Yeah, right.』 from above, Jenkins fired a multitude of wasp missiles, which swerved in the air and converged at a point where Yukari was. Without a word, she turned to face the meddling Action Scientist, rushing towards him as she went through the wasp barrage. Blindly, the missiles exploded in different places, scattering and mangling railings and ledges with explosions. In the midst of the confusion, Reimu pulled out a spellcard, casting it as she felt the divine power slowly ebb away from her body.

『Oh, ye gods that dominate the heavens and the earth...』 she prayed in the darkness below, where Yukari couldn't see her. As she muttered her mantra, seven multi-coloured orbs materialized around her, luminously lighting her entire body. They were the same orbs that she casted on Jenkins.

『Fantasy Seal!』 the orbs launched themselves upon Yukari at high speed, one by one.

『You're such a fool!』 Yukari merely sidestepped as the orbs grazed past, giggling as she did so. The attack missed, but Reimu continued to focus her power. Her fingers trembling, she flipped the card over, gaining influence over the multi-coloured orbs once more.

『Concentrate!』 the orbs took their place around the youkai and made an arc, propelling themselves back at Yukari. The orbs quickly overwhelmed her in a bright explosion, the seven orbs converging as they released their energies upon their target.

"Augh!" she managed to shield herself with her parasol, but the attack slightly dazed her nonetheless. She retreated upwards, and Reimu gave chase.

『Let's go!』 Reimu sped upwards. Jenkins leapt from his ledge, and grabbed onto her hand once more. They left through the open space of the cool night sky above. As they sped further above, they flew up a bright white tower-like structure and reached the rooftop. The flat rooftop consisted of a railed ledge and a door leading to a fire exit. From that very spot, Reimu could see the entire island in full view. The waters lapping the shore stood eerily calm...the similarly-coloured buildings below remained luminous in the moonlit sky. Reimu landed on the stony surface, her weight slightly stirring the dust of the ground. Both her and the Action Scientist looked around for any threats. The youkai, conveniently enough, revealed herself to the two once more, appearing from a portal in the sky.

『Do you see that moon over there?』 Yukari pointed at the cratered white orb in the stars. 『It slowly waxes in the passing of the day. You'd do well to hurry now...』

『There's less than an hour till midnight.』 Jenkins informed. 『You sure you can-』

『Aimless Journey to the Abandoned Station!』 before the two could prepare their strategy, a dark portal opened right in front of the youkai. The sound of train tracks could be heard, along with a blaring horn of a train itself. The two gazed at it in sudden astonishment and leapt out of the way.

『What the hell?』 the force of a speeding underground train went past them in a split second, shaking the ground as the unending length of the speeding mass entered another portal situated at the door to the stairway. As it came to pass, they could hear Yukari's amused laughing.

『I simply just love making you two suffer!』 Yukari said. 『That's not all though...I can kill Reimu whenever I like too!』

『Killing me is the last thing that will ever be on your mind!』 Reimu cried, dramatically waving an arm.

『Is that so? I believe I've found a replacement already.』 Yukari smirked at Reimu's retort. 『Nothing will change when I finally get rid of you. You're nothing more than a worthy test subject for my spells.』

『I doubt Robo would make for a good shrine maiden, let alone be religious.』 Jenkins mused.

『Ahahahah...I guess he might as well get used to it.』

『Like hell I will!』 a voice echoed in the distance. Startled, the three of them stared in the distance of the sky. A strange distortion could be seen emanating in the space ahead of them. Before they knew it, a familiar face flew out of a small gap in the middle of spacetime, wielding a large, wooden sword. Packed with momentum, the girl, donning red and white clothes, albeit bloodstained, brandished her blade with her left hand, bringing it down against the purple devil. She blocked the attempt with a rusty signpost, which she replaced her parasol with from a nearby gap, grinning amusingly. The force of the unknown girl's attack reflected, propelling her back to the rooftop, where she landed with her black leather shoes. The girl gazed at the robot to her left, and they stood eye-to-eye, examining each other closely. Both of them had come to an obvious realization.

『I trust you're taking proper care of my body?』 the girl asked Reimu.

『How can I?』 Reimu replied coldly. 『My own body looks like a mess, you jerk.』

『You'd think being human is easy, until I actually saw hell.』 Robo said, calmly brushing off debris from his shoulders with one able hand.

『Ah, so you went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.』 Reimu crossed her arms. 『That's always the worst path to take.』

『Everybody was out to kill me.』

『I know, right?』 Reimu nodded. 『I could say the same with the outside world though.』

『Meh, there's always people out to get me.』 Robo took a glance a the lady in the frilly dress, suspended high in the sky, then looked back at his own body. 『But this is ridiculous.』

"Ahem..."

"Oh, right...I almost forgot." Robo turned to face Jenkins.

"Robo." the Action Scientist greeted the fake shrine maiden with a serious air.

"Jenkins." Robo replied. "Boy, you would not believe what I had to go through just to get here." the fact that the girl in front of Reimu spoke perfect English perplexed her.

"Save it for later. Your arm looks pretty bad." Jenkins gazed at the bloodied shoulder area with concern. "You shouldn't fight in this condition."

"Well, I feel kinda dizzy, but I'm fine, really."

"No. You're not." Jenkins shook his head. "You're bleeding. That's what's causing you to-"

"Save the 'human limitations' talk and let me do my thing, alright?" Robo turned to face the youkai floating in the sky. "I have a body to go back to and an exhibition to save."

『Pity...What a major setback to my plans.』 Yukari whispered. 『But it matters not to me now. I guess I'll have to wipe the floor along with all of you!』

『How violent is this woman again?』 Robo asked Reimu.

『Nah, she's a cow by nature.』 Reimu replied. 『Whimsical events like these are pretty rare, actually.』

『And that's a good thing?』

『Double Black Death Butterfly!』 the youkai's figure was overshadowed by a large burst of daggers and luminescent butterflies. The bewitching barrage of knives rained down upon the two, while the butterflies made a wide arc towards the fake shrine maiden, seemingly attracted to his injured flesh. Robo lunged away as the ghostly creatures slowly glided away. In the confusion, Reimu caught a sight of Yukari rushing towards her. Using her metallic arms, she blocked the devil's attempt to lop her head off using her signpost. Regardless of her lazy demeanor, Yukari posesses inhuman strength, making a simple task such as swinging a bladed object becomes just as dangerous as her use of barrages. As an assist, Robo interrupted the struggle by rushing towards them, dispersing the altercation.

『Any ideas on how to beat her?』 Robo inquired. The atmosphere seemed tense, but the battle suddenly came to a stalemate.

"Hmm..." Reimu gazed at the sword he was holding. It looked familiar. 『Is that...the Boundary-Cutting Sword?』

『Kid, if this wasn't the Boundary-Cutting Sword, then how do you suppose I got here, then?』

『Good point...』 hesitantly, the fake robot took out another card from her pocket. She was running out fast on spellcards.

『Eehhh...I'd really hate to use this one.』 she made a sound as if swallowing her throat, facing Robo. 『Jump off the ledge.』

『You're kidding, right?』 Robo gazed at the ledge. 『I mean, I'm really flattered, but, do you really think I can fly?』

『Just trust me on this one.』 Reimu began the incantation of the spellcard. 『Pretend she's right in front of you.』

『I just hope you have an idea of what you're doing here.』 Robo quickly took a stance, charging towards the ledge and leaping over the railing. Why Robo chose to put his trust on a person he just met five minutes ago is beyond him, but if they were to return to their bodies once more...

『Dimensional Rift!』 Reimu threw the card, causing it to disintegrate. In the process, Reimu felt woozy and started to black out more so from the depletion of her powers. Robo instantly teleported from the ledge to right above Yukari. Robo suspended his disbelief and readied his sword, jabbing it towards Yukari. She blocked once more with her signpost, the cylindrical shaft acting as a physical barrier to the sword's bladed tip. The fake shrine maiden retreated her blade momentarily and slashed full-on. The two sparred as wood clanged relentlessly against metal.

『You're quite skilled with the sword.』 Yukari said, smirking. 『Do you really call yourself a scientist, when you could otherwise have been a warrior?』

『How about both?』 Robo replied curtly, unfazed by her rather flirtatious manner of speaking.

『Impossible.』 The two locked into a brief struggle. 『You're either a warrior or a magician.』

『See, you're thinking of RPGs.』 both opponents pushed away. In this brief opportunity of an opening, Robo made a forceful, upward slash. Having unable to dodge in time, Yukari opened another ultraviolet barrier to defend herself, but the blade's edge merely cut through as a fine-tuned axe easily carves through wood.

『This is a different genre!』 Robo retreats the blade and holds it with both hands by his right ear, readying a final thrust.

『I say RPGs, so you missed!』 unexpectedly, a large flash of energies forced the fake shrine maiden back a far distance near the railing, disorienting him. It was Yukari's turn.

"Agh!"

『Super-Ultimate War God Supreme Slash!』 rushing forwards, the purple devil sped towards the fake shrine maiden at a startling speed, the blunt side of her signpost walloping against Robo's back. Reimu quickly sped after Yukari in a desperate attempt to save her ally.

"Argh!" Robo cried as all his bruises stung at once from the blow, causing him numbing pain. The stab wound from his right shoulder started to act up badly.

『You won't lay a damn finger on him!』 reaching out an arm, she grabbed onto Robo and launched him back to the rooftop, where he stumbled along the rough stone surface. With a loud clang, the fake robot parried the impending attack with her arms, forcing back the youkai. As Yukari retreated, she suddenly vanished. Vigilant, Reimu observed her surroundings, retreating back to the rooftop.

"You alright?" Jenkins held out a hand. Robo struggled to rise from the numbness. He grabbed his hand as he slowly stabilized himself.

"Never better, never better..." he replied, wincing at the pain the bruises from the impact caused him. He looked to see Reimu, still in a defensive stance as she examined the wide expanse for any threat of attack. They were wide open for an assault, considering their position on the rooftop.

『Can't you just exorcise her in one shot? You are, after all, a shrine maiden.』 Robo mused, quoting the title sarcastically.

『Hey, I'd love to, but this thick suit of armour's hampering my ability to gather enough divine spirit.』Reimu replied hastily.

『Ahahahah...so the warrior finally ran out of MP?』 Yukari re-emerged directly above them, a palm raised for another attack. A thick, heavy aura surrounds it. 『Too bad your magician can't cast magic. Otherwise, he's just a squishy liability!』 another portal appeared before her.

『Purple Needles of Painful Reproach!』 taking initiative, Robo leapt off the portal range, motioning to Jenkins.

"Gimme a boost!" responding quickly, the Action Scientist held out his launcher. As ridiculous as it may seem, Robo landed on the flat surface. He heaved and threw, sending the fake shrine maiden careening towards the youkai. A staggering volley of needles shot out from the portal, leaving Reimu very little time to dodge. Instead, she threw out a powerful spherical white barrier above her.

"Nngh...!" she could feel the lifeforce draining from her fingertips as the barrier continued to take damage from above. Yukari was too busy to notice Robo flying at her, and in the sudden stroke of carelessness, the fake shrine maiden struck through the portal, cleaving it in two. With a battle cry, the sword plunged itself into her gut.

"Ghk...!" slowly, the youkai looked down to see the handle of the Boundary-Cutting Sword, the blade lodged into her. Strangely, she wasn't bleeding. Seeing the blade increased her temper to exponential levels. In a swift turn of events, the sword started to glow, its wooden veins appearing, rending it into pieces. It's as if the sword never cut through her in the first place.

『You...!』 before Robo could fall back down, she seized him by the throat.

『You have a knack for strangling people...huh...?』 Robo said, his voice constricted by her inhuman strength.

『No,』 her free hand summoned a small, square barrier, glowing eerily as it spun. 『But I do have a knack for sawing faces off.』 before she could thrust it into his already dirtied face, a beam from Jenkins's launcher interrupted, almost searing her hand. The youkai dropped Robo as she dodged. From below, Jenkins's launcher braced for another attack. Reimu's barrier disappeared and she soared weakly into the air, catching him once again.

『Is this my lucky day, or what?』 Robo said.

『Don't count on your luck just yet.』 Reimu replied grimly. 『She just destroyed the sword.』

『Oh, right...That's too bad.』 Robo realized. 『You don't suppose they've got another one I can borrow, do you?』

『Perish!』 before anyone could anticipate an attack, four large, purple spines struck Reimu's metallic body.

"Hrk...!" the fake robot winced as the sharp spines dug itself through the wiring between her shoulder and body. Another pierced just below her chest, and another on her right thigh. She suddenly lost function to her arms, causing her to drop Robo. Luckily, they were close to the ground, and Robo dropped almost unscathed.

"Augh, that's gonna hurt tomorrow. " Robo remarked as he looked up and saw her plummet to the ground on her knees. Both he and Jenkins ran up to give her a hand.

『Hold still.』 Jenkins said as he pulled out the large spines. They were as large as flagposts, but luckily, they slipped off easily.

『We need to rethink our-』

『I think I'm growing tired of this ordeal!』 Yukari declared lazily, her voice evidently loud. She finally lost her patience, having played around with the two far too long. Reimu gasped, sensing a much darker aura emanating from the youkai. She hadn't felt something as serious as this for a very long time.

『What's wrong?』 Robo turned, looking at Reimu's blank, terrified expression. She didn't need to say it for Robo to realize that things have gotten much more serious. With a glinting glare from the youkai, orbs of light began to appear from a distance above them. Razor-sharp paper charms appeared from these small orbs as they moved around the three, imprisoning them in a bounded field of barrages ready to strike. There was no escape.

『Y'know...I was thinking.』 Robo said calmly. 『Don't you think you could just siphon your powers from my body? This is yours, after all.』

『Great idea!』 Reimu replied, her voice cheerfully sarcastic. 『Except I don't have my gohei.』

『Now that you mentioned it...』 from Robo's hand appeared the wooden stick adorned with paper streamers at its end.

『Why didn't you tell me sooner?』 Reimu said, her voice broadly deadpan.

『You didn't ask.』 Robo gazed at her dully. Reimu took an exasperated sigh.

『I have a plan.』 Robo explained. Something about the phrase had an air of confidence within it. 『How many spellcards d'you have left?』

『Just one.』 Reimu said. 『But it'll take a lot of time and energy to use.』

『Perfect. I'll be your mana pool, and Jenkins here will be your assist.』

『...What do you want me to do, exactly?』 Reimu asked, not quite getting the plan.

『What you came here to do!』 Robo puts a palm to his face in frustration. 『Geez, you're slow.』

"Heh..." the fake robot laughed nervously at her own stupidity. 『I hope you know what you're doing here.』

『Nope. Not a clue.』 the three assumed a grouped line formation in the face of a web of dense barrages. Jenkins stood in front, launcher aimed high, followed by Robo, his gohei raised high in the air before him. Reimu stood defensively, taking out her last spellcard. With her wiring skewered, her arms felt like lead. Moving them was difficult.

『Ready?』 in an instant, the gohei started to glow, its light directed towards Reimu. Slowly, she started to regain her divine energy. She made a sign with her hand, the spellcard vertically in front of her. She began to recite a mantra with closed eyes, the expanse of the rooftop rumbling from the magnitude of the card's activation. A glowing crest materialized from the ground, spinning as spheres sporting yin-yang symbols appeared out of thin air, circling around Reimu in a wide frenzy.

『Charging!』 Jenkins informed gruffly. In a blast of invisible force, he launched a bright dark-purple laser through the barrage, leaving an opening for Reimu to escape. She leapt, grazing past the small opening with her large body out of the tangled web and faced after the awaiting Yukari. With the Yin-Yang Orbs close by her, she sparred against the youkai, throwing blows with fists and kicks. Yukari effortlessly dodged and blocked with small barriers, but the fake robot broke through her weakened defenses, quickly bludgeoning her opponent with the orbs at will.

『It's over!』 Reimu followed with a succession of five ascending kicks up against Yukari's gut. With each successful blow, one of the seven orbs began to glow an otherworldly light, its magnitude of power increasing even more so with the continuous supply of divine energy. The fake robot backsaulted, nailing her below the chin. Yukari dropped her signpost and felt whiplash as she flipped backwards from the force of the blow. Reimu sped in a manner almost teleporting from one place to another, delivering a hard strike from her left elbow.

『May the gods have mercy on thee...!』 Reimu cried in stern declaration, her arms and legs apart, commanding the orbs to surround the defeated youkai. As she fell, Yukari's face revealed itself, glaring insanely as she laughed manically at her downfall. With a final swish of her arms, the dense barrage that threatened Robo and Jenkins started to close in at an alarming rate. Reimu looked on in shock; her allies' lives were at stake. She had become too presumptuous in defeating her opponent, but with her goal set, she must finish the battle once and for all. The best she could do was to pray for their survival. She brought her hands together, performing various hand signs in quick succession as she muttered the sacred mantras that invoked the venerable powers of exorcism.

『This ends now! Fantasy Demon-Binding Circle!』 with the final sign affixed on her thumb and fingers, a beam of pure spiritual energy shot out from within, colliding with the orbs, rapidly circling around Yukari as each of the seven spheres converged into a stasis prison, sealing off her powers.

"Big barrier, big barrier, c'mon...!" Robo muttered as he concentrated as much as he could while continuing to hold up the gohei in the wake of certain death. In a stroke of good luck, Robo's gohei flashed a vibrant colour, expanding a powerful, hemi-spherical barrier around them, much to Reimu's relief. The dense barrage crashed down the barrier, penetrating the surface in vain. From the tip of the barrel that comprised Jenkins's launcher, energy gathered from the font of divinity that sprung from the rod, which tapped from the frail maiden's inner power. The energy itself was of an unknown density, which the weapon cannot take in large amounts, but the Action Scientist continued gather it all, overriding its systems. The weapon beeped alarmingly, as if it was drowning in its own power and flailing about to release it all at once.

"Nice knowing you." the Action Scientist said. With a pull of a trigger, a massive surge of recoil erupted from the gun, throwing off Robo behind him, breaking his concentration and therefore breaking the barrier. Spiralling, charged beams shone brightly as it shot out through the barrier and into the air, eradicating the barrage and blasting the imprisoning sphere with more divine energy. The sound of the beams crashing against it could be heard throughout the entire complex. The cold, dark night was made more luminous by the orbs' excess energy, surging violently as they continued to spin around the purple devil. A final wave flashed outward from the launcher, scorching the barrel from the inside, and crashed into the sphere one last time, culminating in a colossal explosion of bright white light, causing the entire island to tremble at the rapid release of energies at once. Pillars of white engulfed the night sky, forcing Reimu, Robo, and Jenkins to shield their eyes from the ensuing conclusion...


	10. The Exhibition

CHAPTER 9: The Exhibition

The Next Day, 13 Hours Later...

A great, but lively disturbance stirred about the crowd as they swarmed a humonguous, raised dark stage with a small, circular catwalk protruding out in front. The crowd looked like ants from afar as they awaited the arrival of a special guest. White blimps flew about in celebration of a three-day event occuring in and around the Central Park area, made known to document the acievements of Tesladyne in their years of fringe science research. The midday sun shone brightly in the blue spring air, and the day went on smoothly in the downtown streets, as if the small disturbance that occured the day before was naught but a fleeting dream despite evidence of it still remaining, barricaded in the usual police yellow tape. Behind the black curtains of the raised platform, stage hands went to and fro, communicating frantically to each other via walkie-talkies to get the show going. In the corner of the room stood a robot and a man with a muscular build, donning a brightly-coloured, untucked button shirt over knee-length cargoes. The robot wore a large gray shirt tucked in a pair of khakis, with the leggings also tucked into the long socks of his small boots. The man held a clipboard, gesturing to the robot as he spoke. In turn the robot nodded in agreement, all while scratching his head, feeling tense at the amount of information being given. The man gestured if the robot was ready with a thumbs-up, and the robot returned the favour with a confident wave.

"Show's gonna start in 30." a stage hand said, walking up to the man.

"Got it." the man said, nodding. They could hear the stage lights beyond the curtain flickering and turning on with audible sounds, causing the audience to divert their attention to the stage, cheering all the while. The man walked away from the curtain as the show began to unfold, giving a last thumbs-up to the robot.

"Presenting..." a voice called out from the speakers above. "The man, or should I say bot, who revolutionized weird science as we know it: Atomic Robo!"

The robot twiddled its thumbs nervously, somewhat slouching all the while, but caught itself doing so and stopped, standing tall as the curtains slowly opened to a bright atmosphere, causing it to shield its eyes momentarily before walking towards the circular edge of the stage. The entire audience cheered and clapped at at the robot's appearance, some making whistling sounds all the while. The robot pretended to clear its throat, and took to memory what the man had told him before he emerged to the public.

『Don't say a word, go with the flow.』

"A funny thing happened to me last night." the robot said, animating itself with its arms with an amused look on its face. Its voice projected to the speakers above like a megaphone. "I was doing the usual. Just splitting atoms here and collecting research there when wouldn't you believe it, I switched bodies with someone else halfway across the world." the audience started to laugh.

"Well, as you can see, it took a while to get back to my own body...but here I am now, telling the story to you guys today." the audience clapped at the accomplishment.

"So, what is science?" the robot began. "Science is all around us. It's how you can cook, watch TV, play sports, drive a car, and do many other things. Science can be just as practical as it is weird. We at Tesladyne look at a lot of weird phenomena twenty-four hours a day, and it's the weird that allows us to make it practical for everyone else."

"Science is a long, vast journey through all weirdness, and we at this very first exhibition are welcome to show you both the weird and practical stuff right here in Central Park, so without further ado, let's get this party started!" the audience cheered, and the barricades for the exhibits opened up at the sides of the stage, letting people through. The robot returned back to the stage, taking a deep sigh of relief.

Minutes later, after the crowd had dispersed, the man took off a square platform at the corner of the stage, covering an opening below and jumped in. He looked around in the dimness of the underside of the wooden mass, and saw a young girl in the nearby corner, slouching while sitting on a stool. A large box with a microphone was on a table in front of her, with a multitude of wires protruding from the back of the contraption. The girl wore a strange red and white outfit, slightly tattered in a few places. Her arms, face, and legs were slightly bandaged, and she was breathing heavily. When the man moved closer, he could see dark circles under her closed eyes. She was snoring loudly, and drool was coming out from the corner of her open mouth.

"Zzz...don't press that...zzzz..." she mumbled. The man smiled amusingly.

* * *

8 Hours Earlier...

『WHAAAT?』 Reimu cried as she gripped the fox shikigami's throat with her metal hands, shaking her back and forth. Ran flailed about for air. 『Whaddya mean 'till sundown?』

In the hours prior to the exhibition, Robo, Reimu, and Jenkins stood around the nine fox-tailed being in frilled clothes. They tied her onto the barber's chair, where Reimu was interrogated hours way before. Both Jenkins and Robo sat in the far corner. The fake shrine maiden had his bandaged arms crossed.

『I'm so sorry, mistress! Whaaaa...』 the shikigami bawled.

『Forget your mistress, she's not gonna come out for a while due to the sealing.』 Robo shrugged. 『Also, you need to cool down, Reimu.』

『I...can't breathe...Gakk...』 Reimu removed her grip, cursing. 『The transmigration process at most will only last a day and a half before weakening. I can't reverse it until sundown and that's that!』

『Then where the heck's the book?』 Reimu asked, frustrated.

『The mistress still has it...』 Ran said, sniffling.

『Funny,』 Robo started. 『She never used that book when she fought us. I thought that thing had powerful spells in it?』

『The mistress was bluffing...』 Ran confessed. 『Most of what was created were defensive and utility spells. The mistress got too haughty and decided to use the book on a whim, even though it was far incomplete.』

『Well, hey...』 Jenkins said. 『At least this whole thing will only take a few hours. It's not like you two are stuck in opposite bodies forever.』

"You totally missed the point, Jenkins." Robo sighed. "The exhibition's at one in the afternoon. We have to leave the island at half-past eleven."

"I'm only trying to look at the bright side."

"Well, the bright side of your argument is stupid." Robo said. "Look at me. I can't go out in public in this body, let alone this getup." he directed his gaze at Reimu, who returned with an accused look.

『W-why are you looking at me like that?』 Reimu asked, stuttering a bit.

『There's really no other choice, is there?』 Robo asked Jenkins.

『You could dress in drag.』 Jenkins quipped, smiling jokingly.

『Besides that.』 Robo interrupted, disregarding the suggestion.

『Guess not.』

『I don't like how this is going...』 Reimu withdrew herself a bit from the two.

『Ever kept your head in a crowd before?』 Robo asked.

『S-somewhat.』

『Good. I got another plan.』

* * *

6:30pm

The sun slowly sets in the Tesladyne complex. Jenkins, Reimu, and the asleep Robo were within the beige confines of the infirmary. Ran stood in front of two as they lay down in separate beds. Bernard, Koa, and some of the medical staff watched closely as the fateful event unfolds. On Ran's arms were metal shackles, and a paper charm was attached to her forehead to prevent her from using her powers to escape.

『Do what you need to do.』 Jenkins coaxed the shikigami. She stepped forward. She instructed Reimu to close her eyes prior to the process as a precaution. The shikigami held her shackled palms forward, reciting a mantra with fixed, concentrated eyes. An unknown, but calm force lifted upwards from the room. With a bright flash that startled the people around the room, both bodies revealed their true living embodiment. The ghosts of both Robo and Reimu presented themselves in opposite bodies. Ran changed her mantra, now reciting in what sounds like Chinese. A gust of wind could be felt as the living embodiment rose up slowly, expelling them from their physical cages. Both bodies became limp and lifeless. Quickly, the shikigami affixed hand signs in rapid succession; in a much faster rate than Reimu. With the final sign of the ritual affixed, another flash occured, and the embodiments disappeared. As everyone's eyes started to recover from the multiple flashes that occured, they could see the bodies slowly coming to life again. An electrically-tinged snore could be heard.

『My head feels funny...』 a girl's voice mumbled as Reimu's body slowly rose up from the bed. Everyone in the room took sighs of relief as Ran concluded the reversal of the spell.

"Zzzzz...bugs everywhere...zzz..." the robot mumbled in slight distress, his head cocked to the left as he stirred about.

『Why's he still sleeping?』 Jenkins asked Ran.

『Exhaustion transfers with the embodiment, regardless of the lifeform.』 Ran explained. 『The transmigration still isn't perfected, therefore there are side effects to its reversal.』

『Aah, who cares.』 Reimu scratched her head. 『At least I'm back to normal. That suit of armor was really suffocating, you know.』

『You two have a way to get back home?』 Jenkins raised a brow at the two of them. Reimu paused in the realization.

『Geez, way to ruin my mood!』

『The mistress still won't come out...』 Ran sobbed.

『I only thought I'd ask, but since you two don't look to have a way back...』 he looked at Bernard.

"You lookin' at me?" Bernard asked, pointing to himself.

"Do we still have components for another Heim-Droesscher?"

"I'm not sure..." the Action Scientist shook his head. "It's too risky to do another unless..." the Action Scientist had a realization.

"Unless what?"

"Mind if I ask for a paper charm from the girl?"

『Baldy here wants a paper charm from you.』 Jenkins said to Reimu. With a swish of her finger, she conjured an ofuda and gave it to Bernard.

『What's he want it for?』

『To get you guys a way home.』


	11. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE: Peaceful Romancer

One Week Later...

"Zzzz...zzz...znrk-" Robo's eyes blinked twice as he awoke from the strangest of dreams. His mind is a blur as to where he is or what the time of day was. His internal systems rebooted momentarily, as if he is powering on for the first time. He moved his shoulders, waist, and legs. It felt a bit loose and disoriented when he moved them around for some reason. Scratching his head, he looked around. The walls looked familiar, the pictures on the wall and the bookshelf looked familiar, the sofa and plant seemed to ring bells. The person sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper and the piles of paper strewn on his desk looked all too familiar. The chair...?

"Had a good nap?" the person reading the newspaper asked. Robo blinked curiously at him.

"Was I dreaming the whole time?" he asked in a dazed tone, stretching his arms out with a yawn.

"Dreaming what?" the man flipped a page.

"I dreamt I was a shrine maiden." Robo looked at his hands, flexing his fingers about. "And then there was this old talking turtle and this crazy witch and everyone was out to get me. Then we went to this huge mansion where I fought someone's maid and I met a vampire."

"A vampire, huh?"

"But it wasn't one of those vampires, no..." Robo seemed inebriated, unaware of the nonsense he's spouting. "She wore a funny hat and dress and had bat wings and talked about how someone spilled tea on her dress."

"You didn't happen to fall down a rabbit hole into Wonderland in the midst of that, did you?"

"Heheh...very funny." there wasn't a tinge of sarcasm in Robo's voice.

"The witch yelled at me for being a jerk after that." Robo looked up, as if the ceiling fan was of interest. "I don't know what I did to deserve that."

"Real interesting..." the man flipped another page.

"But the next thing I knew, I was fighting alongside another Robo against some insane old lady in frilly clothes who wielded a signpost and..." his voice trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly realizing what he was saying. His internal clock said it was close to noon on a Sunday. "How long was I out?"

"A week."

"Ah." Robo looked down on his desk. "So I'm back to normal now, huh?"

"You bet."

"Where'd the shrine maiden go?"

"Bernard got them back through the Vampire Dimension portal."

"He...what...?"

"Apparently he stuck a paper charm in between the laser, and it caused her and that fox girl to disappear back to their own dimension."

"I see..." Robo scratched his chin. "Come to think of it, he still hasn't figured out how that diamond reacted with that non-Xenon laser."

"I doubt we'll ever know."

"That's the beauty of science, Jenkins." Robo leaned back on his chair, his head resting on his hands. "Know the unknown."

"You made that up on the spot."

"So did not..." he looked down on the unfinished pile festering on his table, sighing.

"Guess it's back to work." Jenkins mused.

"Yep. Back to work."

In the other side of the compound, Bernard walked in circles around a small lab room with a clipboard on hand, his white lab coat swishing past as his footsteps echoed across the smooth, white surface of the floor. His brows arched in a rather intense manner as he tried to examine the contents written. After a few more rounds, he fell back down a nearby chair, dropping the clipboard on the table, sighing in disappointment.

"Man, it's so boring around here..." he said to himself.

"What's so boring?"

"Waugh...!" Bernard stumbled to the ground, startled by the voice of his new guest. When he looked up, a girl in a similar lab coat stood by the door frame, her long-flowing auburn hair tied back with a black garter band. "Ada! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sneak up?" Ada raised an eyebrow. "I knocked twice before I came in."

"Y-you did, huh?" Bernard brushed himself as he stood up. A day after the exhibition, the Action Scientists returned from their day-off, repopulating the small island as things got a bit more lively again in the halls.

"Let's see what you've got here..." Ada snatched the clipboard on the table. After momentarily skimming through the page, she started to snicker a bit.

"Is...is this a sudoku puzzle?" she said, holding in her amusement. "You're worked up over a sudoku puzzle?"

"I'm bored outta my mind, ok?" Bernard explained. "Ever since that incident happened while you guys were gone, there hasn't been much going on here due to the exhibition."

"Oh, you mean that incident when Robo had a gender swap and spoke Japanese?"

"Who told you it was a gender swap?" Bernard frowned at the rumour.

"No one, I swear." Ada defended herself. "I just overheard it the other day. I think it was Koa who said it."

"Well, that's Koa to you." Bernard said, sighing again.

"Say, you don't think ol' Sleeping Beauty's got his kiss yet, has he?"

"Probably not." Bernard shook his head.

"Hey, why don't we go check his office now?" Ada declared. "You said you've got nothing to do, right? I have didly-squat."

"Sounds good to me." Bernard shrugged and went for the door, followed by Ada, who laid the sudoku puzzle back down on the table.

* * *

『I gotcha now, ya jerk!』 Marisa leapt into the air from her broom, delivering a jump kick straight into the Hakurei shrine's open living room, aiming towards the back of Reimu's head. Without flinching, Reimu tilted to the right, causing the witch to miss her target entirely. She careened across the room and crashed into a rice paper door, bringing it down with her as she tumbled into the floor of the interior.

『You're paying for that.』 Reimu said, taking a sip from her cup of tea. Ever since her return from the strange outside world, she began to embrace her life as a shrine maiden a bit more, realizing that if something like that were to happen again, she would never be able to drink her favourite cup of tea again.

『Oww...that really smarts!』 Marisa clutched at the back of her head as she stood up, dusting off her pointed hat before putting over her head again.

『For the sixth time, I'm not the person you think I am.』 Reimu said, staring blankly at Marisa.

『Damn, so does that mean...』

『Unless he pulls some sorta dimensional stunt, he won't be back here anytime soon.』

『Aww...』

『You know, I never bothered asking, but why do you want him back so badly?』

『Heh, well, you know...』 the witch sat next to Reimu, grinning her usual grin. 『I thought Robo was fun to be with.』 her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. 『Hey! How about if you-』

『No.』

『Pretty pleeease...?』

『You're asking me to weaken the border just to let your little friend in. Do you know how dangerous and selfish that is?』

『Eeh...I see your point.』 her bright face dimmed, crestfallen.

『Why don't you go bother Patchouli? You're always stealing her books, right?』

『Mmm...I dunno...』 Marisa crossed her arms. 『The mansion's still kinda undergoing repairs after my recent invasion with him, so I doubt she wants to see me right now.』

『I see.』 Reimu took another drink, nibbling on a rice cracker afterward. Marisa is awfully quiet for some reason, she thought. A few minutes had passed. Suddenly, someone knocked at the front of the mansion.

『Hello? Anybody home?』 a young woman's voice echoed through the shrine's halls. It sounded like a certain Lunarian.

『Well that's a strange coincidence.』 Reimu said, standing up to meet the unexpected guest. Down the front steps of the shrine building, a young woman with long, braided silver hair stood, waiting patiently.

『Oh, hello...』 she greeted with a proper smile. 『You must be that stupid youkai from a week ago.』

『Who're you calling a stupid youkai?』 Reimu asked, instantly displeased and confused at the comment the woman made. The woman in turn placed the fingertips of a flat palm on her lip to contain her laughter.

『I was just making a little joke, that's all.』 the woman said. 『I see that you've made good use of that sword, didn't you?』

『Huh? What sword? W-what the hell's supposed to mean?』 Reimu gave her a perplexed look.

『Nothing, nothing. Just thought I'd drop by.』 she turned to look into the distance of the courtyard, noticing the dusty donation box sitting next to her. The faded old wood showed year after year of lack of use. Taking a quick sigh, she took out a small money sack from her dress pocket and took out a paper bill from it, dropping it in between the top flaps. It made a faint, fluttering sound as it dropped to the bottom. She swung the rope holding a prayer bell, and it rung clearly throughout. She smiled at the shrine maiden as she paid her respects with two claps sounding from her hands.

『It's the thought that counts.』 she said. Reimu sighed. She can't really tell whether the woman in front of her was really being sincere, or being her usual, patronizing self. 『Say, I heard that vampire is having a bit of trouble with repairs after a certain invasion of her mansion.』

『Well, it's been a week now.』 Reimu replied. 『Shouldn't they be just about done with it now?』

『I'm not sure.』 Eirin said. 『I haven't been down to the village for a while now. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure who the invader was. The details weren't clear.』

『I'm sure that stupid tengu knows who it is.』 Reimu advised the Lunarian, hands on her waist. 『Why don't you go ask her?』

『Ask me? The culprit is right in front of you!』 a gust of wind blew throughout the courtyard and a cloud of dust pelted against the faces of the two. Eirin immediately shielded her face while Reimu accidentally sucked up some of the debris, coughing in a rather un-ladylike fashion as the black wings of a tengu appeared in the distance. Aya Shameimaru appeared from within the cloud, striking a pose with her oversized maple leaf fan.

『Speaking of the devil.』 Eirin said, smiling all the while.

『Do not be deceived!』 Aya cried, pointing an accusatory finger at the shrine maiden. 『That shrine maiden is no shrine maiden, but a shapeshifting male youkai! Step away from that pervert right this instant!』

『Now, now...』 the Lunarian walked up to the tengu. 『I'm sure this is just a case of mistaken identity. Right, Reimu?』

『That's the most lamebrained accusation I've ever heard of.』 Reimu added, nodding. The tengu fumed, still eyeing the shrine maiden with suspicion.

『I have my eye on you.』 she said. 『Don't you think about pulling a fast one on me.』 summoning a large cloud of dust, she flapped her wings and vanished into the air, zooming westward at high velocities. Eirin sighed at her sudden departure.

『Well, that's unfortunate.』 she said. 『I was going to ask her about the mansion incident.』

* * *

"How do you think they're doing right now?" Robo thought aloud as he put his pen down. The past few minutes was filled with deafening silence, and it annoyed him to no end. Somewhere in between his thoughts, he wanted Jenkins to do something interesting for once, like juggle stuff from out of the blue. That would be pretty hilarious, he thought.

"They?"

"Y'know...them." Robo answered, as if expecting the Action Scientist to remember.

"The heck would I know?" Jenkins replied dully, flipping another page in his newspaper.

"Man, you're boring sometimes." Robo leaned back, causing the chair to give way a little.

"What, you want me to juggle stuff for you?"

"Eeh?" Robo flinched, tilting his head slowly towards him.

"Something wrong?"

"N-nothing, nothing!" Robo scratched his head, laughing his way out of the situation.

"You're easy to read, like a book." the Action Scientist said. With a sigh, he put down the newspaper and stood up from the couch. "I'll be around the hall if you need me."

"Bye."

"Hey, Jenkins." Ada greeted as the Action Scientist walked past her and Bernard. Jenkins raises a hand and gives a short wave as he strolled past.

"Seemed like in a hurry..." Bernard quipped. When he turned around to face the direction to Robo's office. In the far distance of the hall, a small distortion was occuring on a blank wall, discolouring and warping its dimensions.

* * *

『Hey, Patchouli!』 Reimu cried, throwing the double doors open into the humongous library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Behind the shrine maiden was the maid, Sakuya, who, more or less, allowed her inside the mansion despite her still lingering suspicions of Reimu's identity.

『Well, at least the two mistresses are still asleep...』 she thought to herself as she escorted both Reimu and Marisa, who seemed to be cowering behind her.

『Please don't cause any trouble.』 Sakuya implored. 『We just repaired the damage you just did to the mansion a week ago.』

『Whaddya mean I was the one who wrecked this big-ass mansion?』 Reimu scoffed. 『I wasn't even around here to begin with last week.』

『If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't the real Reimu who came by last week, you would be owing us money for the damage...』 Sakuya muttered under her breath.

『What was that?』

『Nothing.』

『Good! Now where is that reclusive old hag?』 the three girls walked past the vast aisle of bookshelves, seemingly pristine and untouched as if a battle never occured in the library. It seemed as if the events that transpired a week ago had never happened to begin with.

『What's her problem?』 the maid whispered to Marisa.

『I have no idea.』 Marisa said, her voice somewhat fearful. 『Her mood suddenly changed when she came back into the shrine with that Lunarian, ze.』

『Which Lunarian?』

『The medicine lady.』

『Oh, her.』 Sakuya frowned slightly at the witch's unusual behaviour. 『By the way, why are you cowering like that?』

『Huh?』 the witch caught herself in the act and stood upright, her chest sticking out as she laughed it off. 『Now why was I doing that? Heheheh...』

『You two are acting very strangely today.』 the maid said, sighing. Further down the aisle was a wider space, blockaded by other bookshelves that acted as walls around it. A number of tables formed a square around a large recliner. On the tables were various amounts of books, some opened and some closed. Books filled with page upon page of notes and diagrams and strange languages scribbled on them littered the surface. There was a sound of rustling by the recliner, prompting Sakuya to say something.

『Lady Patchouli.』 the maid said. 『You have guests.』

『I see.』 the magician, barely visible, said amidst the mess. 『I heard Reimu from about a mile away, so I was expecting her. I'm guessing Marisa is with her?』 at the point when the magician mentioned Marisa's name, the witch grasped at the maid's skirt, shaking her head as if telling her not to discern her presence.

『Why yes, she is.』 Sakuya replied promptly, smiling and ignoring the witch's resulting look of disdain.

『Good. Please bring me some tea.』 Patchouli ordered. 『Make it jasmine with a hint of sugar. Bring me a larger teacup, for I'm feeling rather parched.』

『Understood, my lady.』 Sakuya quickly turned around and left. All that was left in the room was the magician, Reimu, and Marisa, who continued to tremble at her presence.

『So, what brings you to the Voile?』 Patchouli asked, directing her query at the shrine maiden. 『The mistress of the house will not be pleased with your presence here.』

『Like I care.』 Reimu waved it off with a lazy hand. 『Anyways, that weird old bag up at Eientei wanted me to check up on you guys.』

『Which weird old bag?』 Patchouli raised an eyebrow at her. 『There are two of them.』

『The one with the curealls.』 Reimu grew a bit annoyed after always having to specify which Lunarian is which. 『Geez, do I have to tell you what she looks like?』

『If I feel like it.』 the magician stood up, levitating over the table and landing in front of the two. Marisa flinched in her presence.

『H-Hi there...』 Marisa greeted with a hasty wave of her hand.

『Planning on stealing my books again?』 Patchouli asked coldly.

『N-Nope, not in a while...after what happened last week.』 the witch said, giggling nervously. Silence ensued for a moment.

『Boo!』

"Eyaah!" the witch fell on her bottom. Her face flushed with red as she looked up to see the magician giggling to herself, her eyes a deep shade of purple.

『The heck did you do that for, ze?』 the witch complained as she slowly got up.

『You looked so terrified when you saw me, so I just had to take advantage of it.』 Patchouli explained, rather monotonously, but with a hint of emotion. 『You're probably still upset about that book, aren't you?』

『It's not like I'm THAT upset about bringing it back, strictly speaking, but...』 the witch withdrew after a sudden outburst. 『...yes.』

『Huh? What book?』 Reimu said, puzzled.

『Forget about it.』 Patchouli said, shaking her head. 『She won't give it back.』

『I see...but I have this other one right...here...』 Marisa rummaged into her dress pocket, but apparently, what she was looking for ended up being a pocket of air. Patchouli raised an eyebrow of suspicion at the witch. 『Where the heck...did it go?』 she continued to reach for her pockets, but in the end, there was nothing inside. 『Weird...I could've sworn it was in my pocket before I came into the mansion.』

『You sure you're not pulling a fast one at me?』

『Of course not! Why the heck would I mention it in the first place anyway, da ze?』

『...Yukari.』 Patchouli muttered as she heaved a sigh.

『What about her?』

『You haven't forgotten that she uses a multitude of strange borders, have you?』

『...I see where you're going with this now!』 Marisa's face lit up as she realized what Patchouli was implying. 『Dammit...should've known!』 she cursed under her breath immediately afterward.

『If you don't mind me asking, what was inside that book?』

『Hmm...you might laugh if I told you.』

『You seemed eager to tell me just a moment ago.』

『Ok, ok, fine.』 Marisa sighed. 『It was filled with unfinished mathematical calculations.』

『So I see...』

『I couldn't really read the notes inside. It wasn't in Japanese.』 Marisa thought aloud as she spoke. 『It was supposed to be for a special friend of mine.』

『Special friend?』 Reimu realized whom the witch was talking about, eyeing her. 『Don't tell me...』

『Yeah, yeah, it's him...so what?』 Marisa put her hands on her waist, facing the shrine maiden. 『It was his to begin with. But since "you-know-who" has it...』

『Hmm...now you just mentioned your little friend...』 the magician flew over to her pile of books as both girls caught her attention, picking up a half-opened green hardcover. Flipping through it, she cleared her throat. 『Reimu, do you happen to recall getting angry and suddenly feeling a strong burst of energy right afterward?』

『Huh?』 though taken aback by her question, Reimu answered anyway. 『I get angry all the time, but then come to think of it...I was so pissed off last week, I was able to break through a border Yukari made out of some sort of magic cube.』

『Ahh...now that explains everything...』 Patchouli seemed to lighten up, her dead monotone gaining emotion and her face blooming with vitality.

『Explains what?』 Reimu pronounced her words more clearly, in annoyance. 『Can anyone please make sense?』

『Lady Patchouli. Your tea.』 Sakuya returned, carrying a porcelain teapot and some cups.

『Fascinating. Just in time.』 Patchouli smiled. 『We can talk over some tea. Fancy some?』

* * *

"Dang...so you're finally awake?" Ada complained. She and Bernard sat at the corner of Robo's office, reclined on the sofa as Robo carried on with his work.

"Yep. Never thought sleeping actally felt that good." Robo said. "Still is a waste of time, though."

"I'll say..." Bernard added, gazing down on the ground.

"That's only 'cause you're taking on too many projects, smart guy." Ada said, facing him. "You should really take a break for once."

"Now why would Mr. Fischer want a break?" Robo asked. "Come to think of it, I did ask you to take a vacation once or twice, and the next day you're still here."

"Well, it would help if I didn't waste too much of my time doing nothing." Bernard replied with uncertainty, scratching his head. "But after all the crazy stuff that happened last week, maybe I should since I'm starting to see things now."

"Yeah...I had no idea you can speak Japanese!" Ada added.

"Uhh...yeah, don't anyone else?" Robo said, his eyes darting between her and his work. Ada noticed the strange behaviour and gave out a smarmy grin.

"Robo, you don't happen to be keeping a secret, are you?" she asked him.

"Oh don't be ridiculous. I only started learning it so we can get in touch with our...Japanese affiliate. Yeah..." Robo answered hesitantly.

『A Japanese affiliate? Oh, how interesting!』 a young woman's voice echoed throughout the small room, startling the three of them. It followed with repressed laughter. The room fell silent, as neither of the three stirred.

"Hey...did anyone tell secretaryname to send a guy to check our vents?" Robo said. Both the Action Scientists shook their heads.

"It's not the vents." Bernard said. "That voice sounds famili-Aaugh!" something warped inches from where Bernard was. Time and space pinched to form an oddly-shaped portal, in a shape of a lip adorned with ribbons at both ends. Inside, many disembodied eyes gaped at Bernard as he shook in horror. The portal shrunk into nothingness and in its former place, a young lady in gaudy clothes stood perfectly still, a large frilly parasol held onto her shoulder. An intimidating, uneasy, yet strange presence stirred as the lady strolled around the room, looking at the furnishings.

『Hmm...such a tacky place. It's so...foreign, and it lacks substance.』 Yukari said. 『I daresay this palace of yours needs more...feng shui.』

"Bernard, Ada," Robo said, glaring at the lady that was in front of him. "I think you two should go get the Lightning Guns. I'll deal with her from here."

『Leaving so soon?』 Yukari glanced at the fleeing Action Scientists, prompting her to seal the door momentarily, causing them to crash into the door head on and bounce back to the sofa, sitting down. 『I only came for a visit. Don't you miss me?』

『Until you pay for the damages? No, not very soon.』 Robo said, glaring at the youkai.

"Who the heck's that lady?" Ada whispered. Bernard shook, intimidated by her close presence. "I mean, she looks weird, rather than intimidating, to be honest."

"You haven't seen what she's capable of..." Bernard replied, prolonging his words in forboding.

『I could rob a bank for you, if you want.』 the purple devil said, smiling a very ominous smile.

『Yeah, that's really nice of you, but I've got enough trouble to deal with.』 Robo complimented sarcastically, pretending to slide back the sleeve of his shirt to look at an imaginary watch. 『Visiting time is almost done. Now, what else do you need before I call the deathray on you?』

『Well, I've got this really nice book from your secret admirer back in Gensokyo.』 Yukari said, as flirtatious as ever. 『Shall I read it to you?』

_Book? What book?_ the robot thought, glaring quizzically at Yukari. After all that had happened, he completely forgot about the whole "book exchange" phenomenon. At that point, Robo didn't think any different about some flimsy book of math notes than a book of spells.

『Oh? You don't remember Marisa? How sad... this will break her heart.』 the youkai said, pouting in a mocking way and pretending to sob. In a flash, her mood suddenly swung over a spectrum, and her easygoing, mocking demeanor became a dull, impatient, and serious one.

『But enough talk...』 she said in a broadly flat tone. 『Here. Have your damn book.』 she threw it at the robot, its spine nailing him between the eyes.

"Oww!" the force wasn't hard enough to topple him, but he certainly winced and moved his head back in reaction to the sharp signal of pain that rang through his system. The book fell flat on his table, still closed.

『Well then, I'm off.』 she said nastily, turning her back, groaning about pains. Grumbling, she tore open another portal in space and lunged through it as it consumed her, vanishing. Awkward silence ensued as Robo rubbed at the small dent the book caused on his forehead. There was a knock on the door after a while, breaking the silence.

"Robo?" Jenkins' voice could be heard muffled through the hard wood. "I got a visitor." the door opened, and an impact could be heard. A large, furry humanoid creature lay sprawled on the carpet, startling Ada as its arms and legs squirmed helplessly. Her nine tails covered most of her body and her ears started to twitch inside her charm-covered dual-tasseled bonnet. Ran dozed on the carpet, drooling.

"Great, as if I ain't got enough weirdos to visit me in one day." Robo said, sighing.

* * *

『...so that's what it was...』 Marisa said, contemplating as she rubbed her chin. 『Wait, can you explain it to me again?』

『That's the third time I repeated myself...』 Patchouli groaned, sighing. She gripped at her teacup, which was half-empty with jasmine tea.

『Geez, I'm sorry. It's just that your explanations are so hard to understand when it involved the alignment of moons and starts.』 Marisa said stubbornly. 『That sort of thing is not my department. Nope, no way.』

『I...never said anything about the alignment of moons and stars. Are you even listening to me?』 the wizard glared at the witch, annoyed.

『Yeaaa-no.』 Marisa fidgeted uncomfortably, admitting it.

『Well then listen up, ya pinhead. I'm on my third cup of tea already...』 Reimu said, acting more un-ladylike than usual. Patchouli cleared her throat.

『Right, so as I was saying...for the fourth time.』 the wizard began. 『The transmigration of souls was anything but successful. You two were able to move your bodies at will, as well as command talents and skills that the other had previous, along with your own. However, it is different from possession in that it is not a complete one. Your living embodiments were so fragile in that new body, that an intermediate-level exorcism spell could finish either of you off.』

『Ah! I get it now!』 Marisa exclaimed. 『So that field you used against Robo was an exorcism field? And, hey...aren't exorcisms Reimu's job?』

『It is her job...』 Patchouli said, taking a glance at Reimu. 『However, like I said, the spell was of a lesser strength than Reimu's divine powers, and is something I borrowed from using the power of sun and moon.』

『I'm still not sure how getting pissed off managed to break the spell that Yukari threw at me.』 Reimu said, gulping her tea.

『So you also weren't listening to me...』 the wizard sighed exasperatedly.

『I was, but I almost dozed off 'cause of your big words.』

『Alright, in layman's terms...』 Patchouli took another deep breath. 『Because your embodiments were unstable in your opposing bodies, a...side effect occured, in that, when I attempted to extract the automaton from your body, his emotions...surged, and, coupled with his strange sword, somehow broke my enchantment and amplified his powers.』

『Wait a sec...sword?』 Reimu was confused. 『If you're talking about my gohei, then-』

『It was a wooden sword of strange, ghostly power.』 Patchouli said. 『I did not get a good look at it, so I'm not sure what it is...at first, I did assume that it was Youmu's.』

『Hold that thought...a sword, huh?』 Reimu gave the word a thought, looking out the stained glass window in the distance. 『Come to think of it, Eirin mentioned one to me. I figured she was giving me one of those stupid mind bender tricks.』

『Hmm...』 the magician rubbed her chin. 『I wasn't aware that the Lunarians knew about Yukari's plot. Perhaps...she asked them beforehand about this little experiment of hers before she came to us.』

『So, yer tellin' me that it was the moon people that saved Robo?』 Marisa eyes brightened a little as she said the robot's name. 『Y'know, they're not as bad as I thought they were.』

『Somehow, that sword's side effect also transcended dimensions and affected you as well, Reimu.』 Patchouli continued. 『Whatever enchantment Yukari had thrown against you, I would assume it consisted of the same spell components as mine. What occured right afterwards, well...the least I could say is that you're finally Reimu in Gensokyo.』

『Yeah, I'd hate for that to happen again...』 Reimu said, sighing in relief. 『You know...teaming up with a big bucket of bolts like that guy wasn't really that bad. You think he's had his share of incidents in that world?』

『Why don't you read this and find out.』 the magician, without laying a finger, caused a small magazine to levitate from her pile of books, landing on the shrine maiden's lap. On the cover was the aforementioned robot, stading with his hands on his waist, seemingly beaming with pride. The headline said something along the lines of a new discovery in the field of theoretical physics...whatever that meant to either of them.

『As the first annual Tesladyne exhibition comes to a close,』 Reimu began reading. 『The leading expert in fringe science, Dr. Atomic Robo Tesla, has wonderful news to give out pertaining to our current understanding of the world as we see today. Speaking with him a number of days ago, he claims that an unknown source has helped him deduce some of the most baffling equations known in modern physics.』

『Read the next part.』 Patchouli coaxed.

『"An incident broke out the other day while we were doing our usual stuff with science," Robo told us. "It was weirder than usual, but when we came out of it unharmed, I just happened to have a book of equations with me and it was solved and everything. I can't say why or how."』

『That book he mentioned just now.』 Marisa said, gasping as she realized it. 『That didn't happen to be my book, was it?』

『He didn't say...』 Reimu replied, skimming through the text. 『But it might as well be, since right after he said something about "a flash of light on the coast not being a radiation blast or something, and should be of least concern." No doubt that was my spellcard he was talking about.』

『Eeh... That wasn't even a spellcard.』 Marisa quipped. 『You just glued two spellcards together to make a more potent one, then you gave it a lame name.』

『Shaddup, I couldn't think of a good one...』 the shrine maiden shrunk a bit after saying that. 『Also, he said something about two intruders that they took care of in the middle of the incident, followed by a quarantine and repair of their underground cells. That must be Yukari and that stupid shikigami.』

『So then...Yukari returned my book? Aww, that's so sweet of her...』 Marisa beamed at the thought of her admired robot receiving her calculations and being so happy that she finally did him a favour. 『What a happy ending. Now everything's back to normal again on both sides of the border.』

『Ugh, I'm bored already.』 Reimu said, slightly nauseated by her friend's off-character romantic babbling.

『Maybe you should go for a donation drive, 'cause you owe us big time for damages.』 Patchouli said flatly, finishing her tea.

『What was that? You wanna say that again?』 Reimu's temper suddenly went hot, slamming her teacup down on the side table as she glared at the magician.

『I think I'm gonna go now, toodles...』 Marisa quickly grabbed her room and sped off as the shrine maiden and magician squared off in a rather trivial battle at the mere mention of debt. Truly, Gensokyo was back to normal again.

Oh, but what about Yukari? Well, she went back to take a long nap, leaving Ran back in the outside world, locked up in an underground cell underneath Tesladyne. As she bawls and howls through the night, most of the staff did their best to stay away from the area, as the various forbidden specimens and prisoners moaned and complained of noise.

**THE END**

* * *

**Note: Excuse the extremely long wait. Now this fic is done. Comment on what needs to be worked on, what you liked, what you didn't like. I would gladly appreciate any sort of criticism you might have on this first attempt at fanfiction, or attempt at proofreading, either by me or the guy this was dedicated to.  
**


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